A disease that kills white-tailed deer has moved further into central Illinois. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said Chronic Wasting Disease is now in Ford County. It’s also been found in Livingston and 19 other Illinois counties.
Tests showed a deer taken in March in Ford County had the neurological disease caused by prions that is similar to Mad-Cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome in humans. It can cause dramatic weight loss, and loss of coordination among deer before it kills them. There is no cure or treatment.
There are no known cases of human infections from deer, but the Centers for Disease Control noted on its web site the World Health Organization believes it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain.
“Some animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to certain types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people,” said the CDC.
The state Department of Natural Resources [IDNR] said in an FY 2023 report the number of positive cases has increased progressively since 2013. The total statewide in the last budget year was 369, mostly in northern Illinois.
“The disease prevalence rate for all adult deer taken by hunters was 6.2%, which was 38% higher than in FY2022 and 41% higher than in FY2021….the highest observed infection rate in the history of the program,” said IDNR.
The state has tried to manage the disease by encouraging hunter harvest and testing of deer in counties with cases, targeted removal in infection zones, and ongoing statewide surveillance, though that strategy may no longer be effective.
“The number of infected deer removed by sharpshooters in recent years appears increasingly insufficient to maintain low infection rates across many active management units," said IDNR. "Importantly, it is increasingly unlikely that future disease management goals will be met, or CWD confined to northern Illinois, if targeted sharpshooting remains the only management tool.”
The department said a shift in distribution of infected deer across the endemic area and inevitable southward expansion are high priority management concerns. The state is seeking partnerships with wildlife researchers and managers.
IDNR also plans public briefings and conversations with hunters and landowners in areas with newly-found infections.
