The Wyoming Game and Fish Department confirmed Monday the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) for the first time in elk Hunt Area 61 in the Cody Region.

Surrounded by CWD positive Hunt Areas 58, 59, 52, 62 and 66, Hunt Area 61 has long been considered one of the gems of Big Horn Basin and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem elk lottery draws. CWD is 100% fatal to infected deer, elk and moose. Despite the discovery, Cody Region biologist Tony Mong said the area will likely remain popular with hunters.

“We do not believe this will impact the popularity of the area for hunters,” he said in an email interview Tuesday, adding there has not been a positive test result from elk in the Heart Mountain area.

The department has been working hard to decrease congregating elk herds in the Powell area, including reducing herds that are over objective in the areas west of Powell.

“We have done this through hunting season timing and license allocations as well as building partnerships with local landowners to gain access to elk on private land,” Mong said.

Continued monitoring of CWD over time is important to help Game and Fish understand the potential impacts of the disease, as well as evaluate future management actions, the department said in the confirmation. They confirmed the presence of CWD in a deceased cow elk found in Hunt Area 61. To ensure the public is informed, Game and Fish announces when CWD is found in a new hunt area, the department said.

The prevalence of CWD is higher in deer than elk, Mong said.

“Overall, we are not seeing CWD rates climb to the same levels as mule deer in the state. Although we are seeing new elk areas with positive CWD results, we typically do not see the same increases of prevalence as we do in deer,” he said.

CWD is most prevalent in central and southeastern Wyoming, and within the Big Horn Basin. Over the past 30 years, Wyoming has seen CWD prevalence increase in many hunt areas across the state. Evidence suggests CWD is transmitted via saliva, urine, feces or even infected carcasses. Animals may also be infected through the environment via contamination of feed or pasture with CWD prions (which can persist for many years after the death of a CWD positive animal). The most likely route of exposure is through ingestion, Game and Fish reports.

Early in the disease, animals show no clinical signs. Later on, affected animals show weight loss, reluctance to move, excessive salivation, droopy ears, increased drinking and urinating, lethargy and eventually death. Not all animals will show the typical signs of CWD. The majority of all CWD-positive animals that are harvested appear completely normal. The only way to know whether your harvested animal has CWD is to have it tested, the department reports.

While state biologists are working hard to curb the spread and impacts of CWD on ungulate populations, however, there has been no progress towards slowing the spread of CWD, yet, Mong said. All hands are on deck as many department employees have their busiest time of the year during fall hunt seasons.

Game and Fish wildlife biologists are currently focusing their attention on elk hunt areas 35-40, 70, 71, 75, 77, 78, 80-96. Testing of harvests is voluntary in some areas, yet highly suggested, and mandatory in other hunt areas.

“We are certainly getting larger CWD sample sizes from our elk herds due to a change in our sampling strategy,” said Game and Fish’s new Wildlife Health Laboratory Manager and Wildlife Disease Specialist Jessica Jennings. “Starting back in 2019 we aimed to get at least 200 CWD samples from adult elk in each herd, we prioritize a couple of herds in each region, every year. This may explain some of the new areas that we are seeing in elk. We do have a couple of elk herds with a significant sample size where we have not detected CWD, but still quite a few where our sample sizes are just too low to say.”

Since 1997, Wyoming Game and Fish has been monitoring the distribution and prevalence of CWD to better understand how this disease affects the health of Wyoming’s deer and elk populations. This disease has now been identified in most of Wyoming.

To date, there have been no cases of CWD in humans. However, experimental studies raise the concern that CWD may pose a risk and suggest that it is important to prevent human exposure. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that CWD-positive animals not be consumed.

Hunters can assist in data collection by submitting samples for free CWD testing, especially when hunting in priority or mandatory CWD testing areas. Currently, there is no mandatory testing in the basin. But it would be helpful, Mong said.

“In order to track CWD in our elk populations, it would be really helpful for all elk hunters to have samples taken or collect samples to be tested. The more samples we have the better our data,” he said.

More information on providing test samples can be found on the Game and Fish website. A map of CWD endemic areas, along with more information, is available on the Game and Fish’s CWD webpage. The public is asked to contact the nearest Game and Fish office if an animal appears sick or injured.