DEC and Ag & Markets Release CWD Risk Minimization Plan

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is an untreatable and fatal brain and nervous system disease that threatens New York State’s wild white-tailed deer and moose populations and captive cervid (deer and elk) farms across the state.

DEC has partnered with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent CWD from being introduced into New York. The goals of the plan are 1) keep CWD infectious material and infected animals out of New York 2) prevent exposure of CWD infectious material to wild white-tailed deer, moose and captive cervids in New York and 3) provide information and education to inform the public of CWD risks and the threat posed by CWD.

In 2005, CWD was confirmed in five deer from two captive breeding facilities in Oneida County. DEC and Ag & Markets executed a swift and coordinated response among several agencies to contain the cases to a small area. More than 47,000 deer have been tested statewide since 2002, and there has been no reoccurrence of the disease since 2005. DEC, Ag and Markets, captive cervid facility owners, hunters, meat processors, and taxidermists need to do everything we can to prevent this fatal disease from being reintroduced into New York.

To learn more about CWD, the CWD Risk Minimization Plan, and ways you can help prevent its introduction into New York, visit the Chronic Wasting Disease webpage on DEC's website.