Chronic Wasting Disease Information
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) of mule deer, rocky mountain elk and white-tailed deer causes fatal damage to the central nervous system. Surveys of New Jersey deer harvested in several deer seasons have found no evidence of the disease. Based on those surveys, if CWD was present in our state we are 99% confident it was in less than 1% of the adult deer at that time (without testing all of the animals in a population it is statistically impossible to say a disease is not there).
Since there is concern among hunters and others about the disease spreading to New Jersey, a "Questions and Answers" document about CWD was prepared in 2005 by Douglas E. Roscoe, Ph.D., Research Scientist of the Division's Office of Fish and Wildlife Health and Forensics. Links to information about the disease and the surveys are below.
Chronic Wasting Disease Questions and Answers (pdf, 34kb)
Important Notice to Permit Holders of Captive Deer & Elk - September, 2010 (pdf, 15kb)
Division Offers Advice to Hunters Heading Out of State - November, 2005
Chronic Wasting Disease Survey, 2005-2006 (pdf, 935kb)
Chronic Wasting Disease Functional Prion GenotypeSurvey, 2006 (pdf, 260kb)
Chronic Wasting Disease Survey Information, 1998-2005 (pdf, 9kb)
NJ Bans the Importation of Deer and Elk - June, 2002
For more information on chronic wasting disease, its management and related diseases visit the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance's web site.
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