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Chronic wasting disease

Droopy-eyed buck deer, infected with chronic wasting disease, crouched in a green field
Droopy-eyed buck deer, infected with chronic wasting disease, crouched in a green field
Deer with a positive case of chronic wasting disease, near Myton, Utah.

Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible disease that affects the nervous systems of deer, elk and moose. CWD is caused by a misfolded protein, called a prion, that accumulates in the animal's brain and spinal cord. The same type of misfolded protein causes "mad cow disease" in cows and scrapie in sheep.

Infected animals develop brain lesions, become emaciated, appear listless, have droopy ears, and they may also salivate excessively. CWD is always fatal to the animal, and there is no known cure for the disease.

How does CWD spread?

Infected animals may shed prions in their urine, feces, respiratory secretions and saliva, even when they aren't showing symptoms. Transmission may occur directly through contact with an infected animal or indirectly through environmental contamination. (A dead carcass can contaminate the soil.) Prions are extremely resilient in the environment and can stay infectious for many years.

Diagram of deer showing locations of eyes, tonsils, lymph nodes, etc.
Testing includes sending lymph nodes to a laboratory for analysis, so there are parts of the animal — especially the neck and windpipe — that should stay intact prior to testing.

Utah CWD surveillance and check stations

To monitor the spread of CWD in the state, the DWR conducts check stations each fall during the general-season any legal weapon (rifle) buck deer hunts to test harvested deer in specific hunting units.

Hunters who harvest a buck deer during the following hunts are required to submit a CWD sample:

  • Castle Valley (limited-entry any legal weapon)
  • Moab Valley (limited-entry any legal weapon)
  • Ogden (general-season any legal weapon)
Map of the Utah hunting units targeted for chronic wasting disease surveillance in 2026
Download map – PDF (2.1 MB)

The division also conducts CWD surveillance in Utah's deer hunt units on a rotational basis (over a five-year cycle). In 2026, the division will be conducting CWD surveillance in the following units during the general-season any legal weapon buck deer hunt:

  • Beaver, East
  • Beaver, West
  • Book Cliffs
  • Diamond Mtn/Bonanza
  • East Canyon
  • Fillmore
  • Kamas
  • Manti
  • Morgan-South Rich
  • Nebo
  • Ogden
  • Oquirrh/Tintic
  • Panguitch Lake
  • Paunsaugunt
  • San Juan, Abajo Mtns
  • San Juan, Elk Ridge
  • Vernal/Bonanza
  • Zion

If you harvest a deer in one of the above units this fall, please take a few minutes to stop by a division check station or DWR office (by appointment) to submit a sample for a free CWD test.

Where is CWD found in Utah?

The disease was first discovered in Utah in 2002, in a buck deer taken during the rifle hunt near Vernal. CWD is currently found in areas of northern, northeastern, central and southeastern Utah.

As of Feb. 23, 2026, a total of 435 mule deer and 11 elk have tested positive for CWD in Utah.

Map of Utah hunting units where deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease

What can hunters do to help?

There are a few ways that hunters can help to reduce the spread of chronic wasting disease and assist with CWD monitoring efforts.

  1. Report suspected CWD-infected animals

    If you see any deer, elk or moose that appear sick, please report your sighting (with GPS coordinates and photos/video, if possible) to the nearest DWR office.

  2. Contribute data and get your harvest tested for CWD

    Be part of the DWR's ongoing efforts to monitor CWD by submitting a sample for testing.

    • Get free testing in selected units
      During the general-season any legal weapon (rifle) buck deer hunt, you can stop at a check station or DWR office and receive a free CWD test if you harvested a deer on one of the units being sampled that year (see the info box, above, for a list of sample units).
    • For mandatory testing units, you'll receive a sample kit in the mail
      If you have a permit for one of the three hunts requiring mandatory CWD testing, you will receive a free test kit and collection instructions by mail in September. Drop off the sample at a DWR office or at a check station, or call your nearest DWR office to be connected with a division biologist if you have questions.
    • Voluntary testing for a nominal fee
      If you harvest an animal in a nontarget sampling unit or hunt, but still want to have your deer or elk tested for CWD, you may do so by providing the head of the animal to the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Logan or Spanish Fork and paying a $30 testing fee. (See details in the FAQ, below.)
    • Obtain your CWD test results
      To view your CWD sample results online, use your DWR Customer ID to log in; select the “Analysis Results” tab and then click the “CWD Results” tab. (Please allow 4–6 weeks for sample processing.) The DWR will directly contact all hunters whose animals test positive for CWD. Note: While your sample submission number is not required to log in, please keep your receipt for reference and contact a DWR office for assistance if results do not appear online within six weeks.

  3. Properly dispose of carcasses

    It is critical for hunters to dispose of gut piles and carcasses properly to help slow the spread of CWD — especially when harvesting deer in CWD-positive areas. Here are a few important tips for safe carcass disposal:

    • If you're in the field, leave the spinal cord and other waste at the harvest location.
    • If you're processing away from the harvest location, double-bag leftover remains and place them in a landfill or municipal trash collection, or take your harvest to the game processor as soon as possible.
    • Do not dump carcasses outdoors away from where the animal was harvested.
    • Take the head/cape to a taxidermist right away; don't allow the carcass to sit out where scavengers can get to it (especially the brain and spinal column).

  4. Follow carcass transport/import laws

    The DWR has taken measures to prohibit the import of deer, elk and moose carcasses from known infection areas. Only the following parts of wild deer, elk and moose may be imported from CWD-infected areas in other states:

    • Meat that is cut and wrapped either commercially or privately
    • Quarters or other portion of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached
    • Meat that is boned out
    • Hides with no heads attached
    • Skulls and skull plates with antlers attached that have been cleaned of all brain matter and spinal column matter
    • Antlers with no meat or tissue attached
    • Upper canine teeth known as buglers, whistlers or ivories
    • Finished taxidermy heads

    It is unlawful to import dead mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose, caribou, reindeer, or their parts, except for the carcass parts listed above, from states or provinces where CWD has been detected. See a list of CWD-detected states in the FAQ section, below.

Frequently asked questions about CWD

If you harvest an animal in a nontarget sampling unit or hunt, but still want to have your deer or elk tested for CWD, you may do so by providing the head of the animal to the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Logan or Spanish Fork and paying a $30 testing fee.

Keep in mind that any animal must be older than one year and the lymph nodes must be intact without having rotted. Hunters are responsible for collecting the sample and getting it to the lab intact.

Participating labs in Utah:

Chronic wasting disease is caused by small proteinaceous infectious particles called prions. Prion-caused diseases are known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and include Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or "Mad Cow Disease" in cattle), scrapie (in sheep and goats) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD, in humans). Infected animals may shed prions in urine, feces and saliva. Transmission may occur directly through contact with an infected animal or indirectly through environmental contamination. Prions are extremely resistant in the environment and can stay infectious for years.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the risk of transmission from animals to humans is considered extremely low.

To date, there has never been any direct evidence that CWD can be transmitted from animals to humans. Recently, preliminary results from a laboratory research project funded by the Alberta Prion Research Institute and Alberta Livestock Meat Agency, and led by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency scientist indicated that CWD has been transmitted to cynomolgus macaques through intracranial and oral routes of exposure. Both infected brain and muscle tissues were found to transmit disease to the macaques.

There is no evidence that CWD naturally infects domestic livestock. Chronic wasting disease has been detected in free-ranging and captive cervids in multiple states and Canadian provinces (view a map). Recently, CWD was also detected in free-ranging reindeer and moose in Scandinavia.

The CDC recommends not consuming meat from CWD infected animals. Read more information from the CDC about CWD.

Deer in the early stages of chronic wasting disease appear healthy — including animals that may be harvested by hunters — so the only way to know if an animal is infected is by having it tested.

Hunters should not harvest animals that appear sick, nor should they eat meat from suspect animals. The DWR advises hunters to take these simple precautions when handling the carcass of any deer or elk:

  • Do not handle or consume wild game animals that appear sick. Instead, contact your local DWR office and notify them of the location of the sick animal.
  • Do not consume meat from animals known to be infected with CWD.
  • Wear rubber or latex gloves when field dressing big game.
  • On all deer, bone out the meat, and avoid consuming the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen and lymph nodes of harvested animals.
  • Minimize handling of soft tissues and fluids. Wash hands with soap and warm water after handling any parts of the carcass.
  • Knives, saws and cutting table surfaces should be disinfected using a solution of 50 percent household bleach for at least an hour.

Please contact the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for additional information or if you see a sick animal while hunting.

The DWR can’t accurately compare each year’s positive cases to determine how fast the disease is spreading because the DWR samples areas of the state on a five-year rotation. (Alternatively, hunting units are compared from year to year.) However, yearly results indicate that the disease is in new areas, so unfortunately, it does appear to be spreading in Utah.

The medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes of mule deer in all sample units, as well as elk from positive deer units, are collected. All samples are sent to the Utah State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Logan, Utah, for analysis. UVDL has been approved by the National Veterinary Sciences Laboratory to test for chronic wasting disease. UVDL uses the IDEXX HerdChek CWD Antigen EIA (IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Westbrook, ME) and the PRECESS 48 system, (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Life Science Group, Hercules, CA) as rapid tests. Any positives that are detected by the Bio-Rad or IDEXX systems are verified using the "gold standard" Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay test.

It is unlawful to import dead mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose, caribou, reindeer, or their parts, except for the carcass parts listed above, from states or provinces where CWD has been detected:

  • Alberta
  • Arkansas
  • Colorado
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • Quebec
  • Saskatchewan
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Nonresidents transporting harvested deer, elk, or moose carcasses through Utah may do so if they do not stay in Utah more than 24 hours, do not leave any part of the animal carcass in Utah, and do not have their deer, elk or moose processed in Utah.

The DWR has implemented an aggressive surveillance plan to target deer in specific units throughout the state. CWD infection in the endemic areas of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska are found in less than 1% of wild elk populations and 1-15% of wild deer populations. Therefore, testing strategies mainly target deer and not elk, although the DWR will test any deer or elk exhibiting clinical symptoms of CWD.

Learn more

Listen to the DWR "Wild" podcast!

In this episode, DWR Wildlife Veterinarian Ginger Stout takes a deep dive on chronic wasting disease: what it is, how it's spread, where it is currently found in Utah and how hunters can help decrease its impacts to deer populations in the state.

For captions, play this podcast on YouTube.

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