Chronic Wasting Disease

To help prevent human-assisted spread of CWD, hunters should not transport live or dead deer or elk from areas where CWD is present. Moving carcasses can carry the disease to new locations. Hunters are encouraged to use electronic deer check-in (e-tagging) or leave evidence of sex attached to the carcass. Then, bone out the deer, and leave the carcasses in the counties where deer are taken.

The first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in a captive bull elk in Harper County in 2001. As of June 2026, CWD has been detected in 1,440 deer and elk in Kansas, including 2 captive elk, 1 captive mule deer, 1 wild, free-ranging elk, and 1,436 wild, free-ranging deer. All five surveillance zones in Kansas now have confirmed CWD detections. Since monitoring began in 1996, 37,625 deer and elk have been sampled and tested for CWD.

There is currently no known treatment or eradication method for CWD so preventing the spread of disease into new areas is extremely important for maintaining the health of local deer herds. Baiting and feed deer concentrates deer at the feeding site, increasing the likelihood of disease transmission—and CWD is not the only concern. Diseases such as bovine tuberculosis, foot rot bacteria, fungal pathogens, hemorrhagic disease, and a host of parasites including exotic lice, flukes, roundworms, mange mites, lungworms, and barberpole worms are also transmitted more efficiently when deer are concentrated in small areas, especially around feeding stations.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease and How Does It Spread?

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is caused by an abnormal protein known as a prion. The abnormal protein (prion) converts normal cellular protein to the abnormal form, which is not broken down or hydrolyzed by enzymatic reactions, resulting in accumulation of the abnormal protein and subsequent destruction of neurons that causes holes in the brain (cytoplasmic vacuolation). This progressive neurologic disease continues, ultimately ending in the death of the animal, either directly, or, more commonly, by the animal becoming more vulnerable to predation by both wildlife and humans, exposure to the environment, collisions with vehicles, and entanglement in fences.

Prions are very resistance to environmental degradation. When prions are excreted by the body of the cervid, they contaminate the soil by binding with clay and become more infectious than the prions passed from animal to animal. Prions are not denatured (destroyed) by cooking meat. It takes temperatures higher than any stove or campfire to destroy prions.

Gultekin Tamguney et al. 2009, found that infected mule deer excrete CWD prions in their feces long before the infected animals show clinical symptoms. They were found to excrete infectious CWD prions beginning about 4 months after infection, and deer became symptomatic around 16-20 months after infection. It was estimated the deer excrete as many prions in the years they are alive than will have accumulated in their brains and nervous tissue at the time of death.

Another major concern is the potential for CWD to spread from captive cervid farms into the wild cervid populations. Once a disease gets into a wild population of animals, it is virtually impossible eradicate. KDWP recommends that every captive cervid operator enroll in the voluntary CWD monitoring program administered by the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Animal Health Division. The sooner diseases such as CWD can be detected in captives, the sooner control efforts can begin and possibly prevent disease from getting outside the fence and spreading to wild populations of the state. CWD is only one of many diseases that could go undetected in an unmonitored captive cervid herd. Bovine tuberculosis and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), for example, are serious diseases that could seriously damage not only populations of deer and an annual 350 million-dollar hunting economy but could also threaten the 6 billion-dollar Kansas cattle industry via quarantines, loss of accreditation, and loss of global export.

CWD Regulations and Tips

For Non-Resident Hunters

Every state has its own regulations concerning CWD. Most states that are free from CWD prohibit importing whole deer carcass from a known CWD-positive state like Kansas to prevent human-assisted spread of the disease. These states usually allow import of packaged meat, cleaned skull plates with antlers, and finished taxidermy mounts. 

To prevent an unexpected fine or confiscation, non-resident hunters should check the regulations of their home state and every state they will be passing through on their return trip. The Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance is a good resource for general guidelines but hunters should verify the information with the regulating agencies of those states.

For All Hunters

Kansas does not have a carcass transportation ban, but hunters are strongly urged to use care when moving deer carcasses from the place where they were harvested. CWD has been found in every surveillance zone in Kansas but not every county. 

The infectious CWD prion is most concentrated in lymph nodes, brain, and spinal cord, which makes the head, spinal column, and internal organs the most infectious part of the animal. That's why KDWP and many states recommend boning out the meat while in the field and leaving the rest of the carcass in the area where the animal lived. If a carcass must be transported to other parts of the state, the remains should be incinerated or buried in an approved landfill.

Landowners are allowed to bury the waste they generate, including carcasses, on their own property (K.S.A. 65-3409).  However, guests and friends may not bury their carcasses on another person's property. If you do not own the land, you cannot bury the carcass and are encouraged to contact the county landfill for permission to properly dispose of the carcass. This helps prevent the spread of CWD and keeps carcasses out of ditches, roads, rivers, and streams.

CWD Distribution in Kansas

updated 2026 information coming soon