MADISON, Wis. – With the conclusion of the 2024 deer hunting seasons, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) shares a summary of the year’s Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sampling efforts.
For the 2024 season, the DNR focused its efforts on increasing sample collection in designated 2024 Fall Priority Areas. As usual, testing was available statewide, but the additional samples tested from the priority areas helped the DNR better understand disease levels and distribution in areas with recent detections.
In total, 17,399 deer were sampled throughout the state during the 2024 CWD year, with 1,786 samples testing positive. Most (89%) of these detections were in the Southern Farmland Zone. A full breakdown of sampled and positive totals by zone and year is available on the DNR’s Summary of CWD Statewide Surveillance webpage. Results by county are also available on the DNR’s CWD Deer Testing Results by County webpage.
A new map of the CWD-positive detections in wild deer is below. It shows both the historic detections (2001-2023) and the 2024 detections.
A total of 242 sampling locations were available throughout the state, including 166 self-sampling kiosks and 76 staffed sites. Disposal sites (154 in total), including dumpsters, landfills and transfer stations, were available for deer carcass waste. The average number of days statewide from when a sample was dropped off at a sampling location to when the CWD result was emailed to the hunter was 8.4 days.
The DNR sincerely thanks all the hunters who submitted a sample for CWD, the business owners who managed a CWD sampling site and those who participated in the Adopt-a-Kiosk or Adopt-a-Dumpster partnerships this year.
2024 Priority Areas
Prior to the hunting season, the 2024 priority areas were chosen by reviewing the CWD sampling data and determining areas where additional samples and information were most needed. These areas were primarily around recent CWD-positive detections of wild and farm-raised deer in portions of central and northern Wisconsin.
This year, two counties within the priority sampling areas, Pierce and Menominee, had their first wild CWD-positive detection. In the northern part of the state, Polk and Vilas detected the second wild positive in the county. In Oneida County, three additional positives were detected in the eastern part of the county.
Several areas in eastern Wisconsin saw additional positive detections in 2024. Waushara and Fond du Lac had only detected one positive prior to the 2024 season, and each county detected several additional positives. Waupaca detected its third CWD positive. Shawano detected three additional CWD positives, and two of them were in different areas of the county from past detections.
CWD positives were also detected in several of the counties in the west-central or central part of the state including Adams, Buffalo, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Juneau, Marathon, Monroe, Portage and Trempealeau.
Endemic Area And Southern Wisconsin
CWD sampling in southern Wisconsin continues to help measure disease patterns and changes in the disease prevalence over time. During the 2024 CWD year, 7,680 samples were tested in the Southern Farmland Zone, and 1,583 were positive for CWD.
Additionally, the DNR shares results from a large CWD study on the endemic area, the area of southwest Wisconsin where CWD was first detected. These results (from the Southwest Wisconsin CWD, Deer and Predator Study) were recently presented to the Natural Resources Board (NRB). The results showed that CWD substantially reduces deer survival rates, suppresses population growth and can cause deer populations to decline in areas where CWD prevalence is high. While there are areas of high CWD prevalence in several counties in southern Wisconsin, the prevalence rate is not consistent throughout those counties or the entire state.
Remainder Of The State
Two counties (outside of the priority sampling areas and endemic area), Chippewa and Manitowoc, had their first wild positive detection in 2024. Oconto County detected its second wild positive in the center of the county, three years after the first positive was detected.
Additional details on these detections can be found on the CWD interactive map and CWD results page, which includes summaries by county and township.
“Although we have detected CWD in new areas of the state in recent years, many of these areas are at a low prevalence rate, and opportunities still remain to slow the spread and growth of the disease statewide,” said Erin Larson, DNR deer herd health specialist.
The DNR reminds the public that there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in humans to date. However, public health officials recommend against consuming meat from deer that test positive for CWD and to consider testing deer prior to consumption, especially in areas prevalent with CWD.
