Virginia.gov

CWD Surveillance in Virginia

The Department initiated Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance in 2002. CWD was detected during 2005 in Hampshire County, West Virginia within 10 miles of Frederick County, Virginia. Over the past few years, the Department's surveillance efforts have been focused in western Frederick and northwestern Shenandoah counties as additional CWD positive samples in West Virginia were found closer to Virginia's border. In addition to the first CWD positive deer harvested in Frederick County, VA during the 2009 hunting season, a second positive was discovered in Frederick County during the 2010 hunting season, less than two miles away from the first. Both positive Virginia deer were killed within one mile of the state border.

CWD Management 2010-2012

Due to the detection of CWD in Frederick County, the Department implemented a number of measures during 2010 to protect Virginia's deer resource. These measures will continue into the 2011-2012 season. All of these measures outlined below will affect hunters in the CWD Containment Area located in Frederick County and the City of Winchester west of I-81 and that portion of Shenandoah County west of I-81 and north of Route 675 (see map). Note below that hunting season changes and a year-round ban on deer feeding also apply to surrounding areas (including Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties).

  1. All deer killed by hunters within the CWD Containment Area on the following dates must be brought to a designated sampling station for CWD testing:
    • November 19, 26 and December 3, 2011.
    • CWD sampling stations will likely include Cather's Market, Crossroads Grocery, Gore Grocery, State Line Store and T&R Processing in Frederick County and Larkin's Store and Graden's Supermarket in Shenandoah County.
    • Hunters can still check their deer via telephone or Internet but must bring the deer to a designated CWD sampling station on the dates above.
    • Please check the Department's website and look for press releases before hunting season.
  2. Whole deer carcasses or deer parts cannot be transported out of the CWD Containment Area, except:
    • Deer parts currently allowed under the carcass importation ban (e.g., quarters, boned-out meat; see list below)
    • Whole deer carcasses or parts being transported directly to meat processors, taxidermists, or lined landfills within Frederick or Shenandoah counties.
  3. Special hunting season regulations will continue to apply on private lands in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester including:
    • The daily bag limit shall be two deer per day.
    • Both the early and late muzzleloading seasons on private lands in Shenandoah County will be full season eithersex.
    • Earn-A-Buck is in effect (see Earn-A-Buck section for more information)
    • No changes have been made for public lands in any of these counties.
  4. Feeding of deer is prohibited yearround in Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the City of Winchester.
  5. Rehabilitation is prohibited for any deer that originates from within the CWD Containment Area.

Please also check the Department's website for updates on CWD surveillance and management in Virginia. For more information about CWD in West Virginia, please see http://wvdnr.gov/hunting/ChronicWaste.shtm.

Hunter assistance and cooperation is essential to the Department's efforts to monitor and manage CWD in Virginia.

Taking Deer Carcasses out of Virginia

Now that Virginia is considered a CWD positive state, deer hunters must follow carcass importation regulations in other states when they transport a deer carcass out of Virginia (see the CWD Alliance website). Restrictions for nearby states are as follows:

  • Kentucky, North Carolina: Carcasses from anywhere in Virginia must be bonedout or quartered so the brain and spinal cord are removed.
  • Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia: Whole deer carcasses are allowed except those originating from Virginia's CWD Containment Area, where carcasses must be boned-out or quartered so the brain and spinal cord are removed.
  • Tennessee: Whole deer carcasses are allowed except those originating from Frederick County and Shenandoah County, where carcasses must be boned-out or quartered so the brain and spinal cord are removed.

Carcass Importation Ban

The primary objective in the management of CWD is to prevent its spread into new areas. One possible mode of disease transmission is by the importation of infected carcasses. In an effort to minimize the risk for disease spread, Virginia, along with a number of other states, has adopted regulations that prohibit the importation of whole carcasses and certain carcass parts of deer and elk harvested from states that have CWD.

Virginia's carcass transportation regulation (4 VAC 15-90-293) prohibits the importation or possession of whole deer carcasses or specified parts of carcasses originating from any area designated by the Department as a carcass-restriction zone in or adjacent to a state or Canadian province in which Chronic Wasting Disease has been found in free-ranging or captive deer (see box below). This includes any member of the deer family Cervidae (including but not limited to white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, mule deer, fallow, axis, and sika deer, elk, moose, and caribou).

States and provinces with CWD include Alberta, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Virginia's regulation does provide for the importation and possession of the following carcass parts:

  • Boned out meat that is cut and wrapped (either commercially or privately).
  • Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached.
  • Hides and capes with no heads attached.
  • Clean (no meat or tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached.
  • Antlers with no meat or tissue attached.
  • Upper canine teeth, also known as "buglers," "whistlers," or "ivories."
  • Finished taxidermy products.

A legible label shall be affixed to packages or containers holding the allowed carcass parts with the following information: the species of animal, the state or province from where the animal originated, and the name and address of the person who killed or owned the animal.

Any person who imports into Virginia any deer carcass or parts described above and is notified that the animal has tested positive for CWD must report the test results to the Department within 72 hours of receiving the notification. In order to facilitate the proper disposal of any infected material, the Department may take into possession any imported carcass or carcass part of an animal if the animal has tested positive for CWD.

Since regulations regarding CWD may change at any time due to new information or data, it is recommended that, before hunting, you check the CWD regulations in your home state, the state in which you will be hunting, and states which you will travel through en route home from your hunting area. A summary of state-by-state carcass transportation regulations is provided on the CWD Alliance website under the Regulations section.