The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will again be partnering with Iowa deer hunters to collect tissue samples to monitor for chronic wasting disease during the upcoming gun seasons.
The goal is to collect samples from each county, with higher quotas based on the presence of or proximity to confirmed positive locations. The goal is to collect about 5,000 samples statewide. Hunters interested in submitting samples to the DNR’s surveillance program can do so by contacting their local wildlife staff. Hunters can monitor progress towards surveillance quotas by county on the DNR CWD Dashboard (www.iowadnr.gov/cwd).
Hunters in areas where the disease has been found or in counties where the quota has filled, can get their deer tested by going to www.iowadnr.gov/cwd and clicking on the hunter submission pathway. There is a video demonstrating how hunters can remove the lymph nodes and package them for mailing.
The hunter submission pathway allows hunters to pull and submit their own tissue sample simply by filling out the online form and paying a $25 processing fee, the same fee the DNR pays for its samples.
Shipping doesn’t require special packaging and hunter submitted samples are prioritized so testing and results can be turned around quickly. Samples are tested at Iowa State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, in Ames. Hunter submitted sample results are included with the data from samples the DNR is collecting.
“Local wildlife staff can help hunters with pulling samples. There are also resources online that shows how to pull and ship samples,” said Tyler Harms, wildlife biologist with the Iowa DNR. “It’s a really good partnership that provides an additional testing option for our hunters.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise to avoid consuming meat from deer that test positive. Most deer that have tested positive in Iowa to date have not shown signs of infection, and appear to the eye to be healthy and normal. Since 2013, the disease has shown up in 25 counties, most recently in Davis County, in southeastern Iowa, and Shelby County, in western Iowa. It has been found in all neighboring states as well.
Chronic wasting disease is spread through direct contact between deer and through contact with contaminated surfaces in the environment. Artificially concentrating deer by putting out grain or mineral can increase transmission of the disease because it increases the opportunity for deer to interact and come in contact with infectious material. Deer will concentrate on their own through scrapes and during the breeding season.
“We want to minimize artificially concentrating deer by not putting out mineral or grains,” he said.
The disease can also be spread by transporting infected carcasses.
“We stress to hunters not to transport the deer carcass outside of the county where it was harvested if at all possible, to avoid introducing the disease to a new area,” Harms said.
If, for some reason, hunters need to take the carcass with them, he said hunters should landfill the carcass through regular waste disposal. In the few instances where landfilling isn’t an option, hunters should return the carcass to the site of harvest after processing.
“Hunting plays a huge role in slowing the spread of the disease. We encourage hunters to continue hunting in Iowa and managing the herd for future generations,” Harms said.
Iowa is in its 23rd year of monitoring for chronic wasting disease and Iowa’s deer hunters have played a significant role in this effort by providing more than 100,000 tissue samples for testing, and by increasing harvest surrounding positive test results, when asked. Iowa has been tracking the presence of chronic wasting disease since the first positive deer was found in Allamakee County in 2013.
Deer management zones
Deer management zones exist in some areas where chronic wasting disease has been detected, and in areas where the local population is above goal. A listing of deer management zones is available online at https://www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/Deer-Hunting/Deer-Health/Chronic-Wasting-Disease/CWD-Deer-Management-Zones.
Tags available in deer management zones are specific to the zone and not tied to the county antlerless quota. These are often available after the county quotas are gone.
“The primary reason for a zone is to manage the deer herd towards the lower end of our population goal in a specific area where the disease has been confirmed. We also want to increase our surveillance so we highly recommend hunters provide a sample to help monitor the disease in these areas,” Harms said.
In addition to the deer management zones, incentive zones in Allamakee, Dubuque, and Wayne counties, focus harvest on a small area where detections on more concentrated. The incentive is, if hunters harvest three female deer and submit their samples for testing – then they receive an additional any deer license for next year for the season of their choice. These incentive zone hunts are in late January and hunters must register ahead. Information is on the website, including staff who can get hunters registered.