Chronic Wasting Disease Currently Not Found In Upper Cumberland Deer

Upper Cumberland deer hunters currently safe from hunting game diagnosed with chronic wasting disease (CWD).

TWRA Region 3 Biologist Casey Mullen said CWD is a neurological disease found in deer caused by a misformed protein and is 100 percent fatal. He said similar to Mad Cow Disease and the beef industry, it is recommended that deer with CWD are not consumed.

“Which is why regulations require that if you’re going to go into the CWD zone fo Tennessee or you’re going out of the state of Tennessee,” Mullen said. “There are certain things you have to do before you bring that back.”

Mullen said CWD is currently found mostly in western Tennessee. He said while western Tennessee is currently facing shortages with testing, Upper Cumberland deer is almost finished with their lab process. Mullen said as of this week, CWD has not been detected in the Upper Cumberland region.

“It is possible, we’re doing everything we can to try to prevent it,” Mullen said. “But it is possible that it could get here, and even that it is here and we haven’t found it yet. Because of the way it’s spread, it’s normally from deer to deer, and those prions are normally really concentrated in the brain, and the nervous system.”

Mullen said that includes fully deboning the meat and eliminating any part of the nervous system from what you bring back. He said that eliminates the concentration of infected proteins from being transported.