Elk Tests Positive for CWD 

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has confirmed the discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease in an elk in Grand Teton National Park. The cow elk was harvested by a participant in the park’s elk reduction program and tissue samples were collected as part of the park’s mandatory testing program. This is the first elk to test positive for CWD in northwest Wyoming and in close proximity to elk feedgrounds.
Wildlife managers say that while the positive test raises concern, it’s also not surprising due to the steady progression of the disease westward across the state. A mule deer tested positive in Grand Teton National Park in 2018. A mule deer also tested positive for CWD in Star Valley in 2016, another in the Pinedale area in 2017, and two mule deer from the Wyoming Range tested positive for the disease in 2020. CWD surveillance of the Jackson elk herd has been ongoing since 2009, with over 4,500 CWD samples tested for the entire Jackson elk herd with more than 1,400 samples collected through the park’s elk reduction program alone.
Recently, Game and Fish and partnering federal agencies began a public collaborative effort to discuss the future management of elk feedgrounds in Wyoming. While Game and Fish is accepting public comment on state-managed elk feedgrounds through this public process, there is no plan to close any feedgrounds. To ensure hunters and the public stay informed about CWD, Game and Fish will announce when CWD is found in a new hunt area. A map of CWD endemic areas is available on the Game and Fish website.
To date, there have been no cases of CWD in humans and no strong evidence for the occurrence of CWD in people. Experimental studies raise the concern that CWD may pose a risk to humans and recommend humans prevent exposure. The Game and Fish and National Park Service follow the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization that hunters not consume any animal that is obviously ill or tests positive for CWD. For more information on Chronic Wasting Disease, visit the Game and Fish website. With the Wyoming Game and Fish, Ray Hageman