Utah wildlife officials have confirmed that a deer harvested near Scofield in Carbon County tested positive for chronic wasting disease on Wednesday, March 4, marking the first known detection of the illness in the Scofield area. The finding pushes the always-fatal prion disease into new territory in Utah and has triggered ramped-up testing and outreach to hunters and land managers around the reservoir.
The infected deer was flagged through the Division of Wildlife Resources' surveillance program this season. Lab results statewide show 83 confirmed chronic wasting disease cases out of 2,126 samples tested, with 46 of those positives coming from hunter-submitted animals and 1,479 hunter samples turned in so far this season, according to KSL NewsRadio. The Scofield case is part of a recent run of new-area detections that DWR biologists have been tracking over the last year.
What CWD Is And How It Spreads
Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease that slowly destroys the brain and nervous system of deer, elk and moose, eventually leaving animals emaciated, sluggish and behaving oddly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the disease spreads both through direct contact between animals and indirectly through contaminated environments, with infectious prions able to linger in soil for years and still cause illness. CWD has now been detected in 36 U.S. states, although no human cases have been confirmed, according to the CDC.
How Utah Is Responding
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources runs targeted monitoring and rotating hunter check stations to collect lymph-node and brain samples for testing, and officials say they will put extra focus on sampling and outreach in the Scofield area in the wake of the new positive. The agency posts maps of the units it is sampling and details on how hunters can turn in samples, and it stresses that hunter participation is essential for spotting new pockets of infection. More information is available from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
What Hunters And Landowners Should Do
Hunters are urged to wear gloves when field dressing, avoid cutting through the spine or skull, and consider waiting for test results before eating venison. State and federal guidance also recommends against moving whole carcasses out of affected areas. Anyone who encounters a sick, extremely thin or strangely behaving animal is asked to report it to DWR and to follow the CDC safety recommendations on handling and consumption.
Officials say chronic wasting disease surveillance will continue and are encouraging hunters and residents to check the DWR website for updated sampling locations and instructions on how to submit a head or lymph-node sample for testing. For details on check-station schedules, sample drop-off sites and what happens if a harvested animal tests positive, see the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
