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The first case of CWD was found in a captive bull elk in Harper County in 2001. As of 30 June 2025, CWD has been detected in 1223 cervids, including 2 captive elk, 1 captive mule deer, and 1220 wild, free-ranging deer. All Surveillance Zones in Kansas now have CWD detections. CWD surveillance began in 1996 and, to date, 36,648 cervids have been sampled and tested for CWD. Hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts can avoid the human-assisted spread of CWD by not transporting a live or dead deer or elk from areas where CWD occurs. Hunters are encouraged to use electronic deer check-in (e-tag) or leave evidence of sex attached to the carcass. Then, bone-out deer, and leave carcasses in the counties where deer are taken. Moving carcasses moves prions and CWD to new locations!There is currently no known treatment or eradication method for CWD, so preventing the introduction of the the disease into new areas is extremely important to maintaining the health of local deer herds. Baiting and feeding deer tend to concentrate deer at small point on the landscape, often with the trails leading to the feeding sites resembling the wheel spokes of a bicycle. Anytime animals are concentrated at this type of "hub," the likelihood of disease transmission increases in a deer herd. More alarming, the transferring of CWD prions to healthy deer is not the only concern. Diseases such as bovine tuberculosis, foot rot bacteria, fungal pathogens, hemorrhagic disease, and a host of detrimental parasites, including exotic lice, flukes, roundworms, mange mites, lungworms, and barberpole worms are transmitted more efficiently when deer are concentrated in a small area, especially around feeding stations. Think of future generations of hunters and do your best to lower wildlife disease transmission risk.
Other Important Information
No human has contracted CWD to date, but all scientists agree that the risk is not zero based on laboratory experiments.
KDWP does not recommend eating any sick wildlife, and a CWD-positive deer is considered sick wildlife, even though most positive deer look apparently healthy. Testing deer lymph nodes or obex is the only way to really know if a deer is negative or positive.
Normal cooking temperatures do not deactivate/denature CWD prions; they are very stable structures. It takes about 1100 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy prions.
Watch the following video to learn how to extract the correct lymph nodes for CWD Testing.
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.
Important: Help Control the Spread of CWD and CWD Prions in Kansas!!
Complete an Electronic Check-In (E-Tag) for deer taken with Antlerless Only permits. Deer taken with Either Sex permits can be deboned in the field without Electronic-Deer-Check-In. The tag stays with the meat!
Remove the musculature (deboning) from the carcass and leave the carcass at the kill site. Make sure to complete Step 1 first.
. If at all possible, do not transport a carcass from counties known to have CWD (see map to the right). Use electronic deer check-in for deer taken with Antlerless Only (AO) permits.
If you have to transport a whole carcass away from the kill site, take or send the deboned carcass, spinal column and head to your county landfill for disposal, once you have deboned the carcass at your place of processing. Don't carelessly discard this material where other deer and scavengers can contact it. Careless disposal of a cervid skeleton could potentially start a CWD hotspot in your area.
Keep the deer permit/tag with the meat. For more information about CWD, visit the CWD Alliance website.
American Veterinary Medical Association has information about precautions hunters and anyone who spends time outdoors should take to protect themselves from potential risks.
CWD Regulations for Kansas and Other States
Information for Non-Resident Hunters
Every state has it's own regulations concerning CWD. Most CWD-free states prohibit the importation of a whole deer carcass from a known CWD-positive state. These states usually allow the importation of products such as packaged meat, cleaned skullplate with antlers, and finished taxidermy mounts. This is to prevent the human-assisted spread of the disease. To prevent an unexpected fine or confiscation, non-resident hunters are encouraged to check the regulations of their home states as well as every state they will be passing through on their return trip. A list of state regulations are maintained on the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website. These are general guidelines and hunters should verify the information with the regulating agencies of those states.
Information for All Hunters
Although Kansas does not have a carcass transportation ban, hunters are strongly urged to practice care when moving deer carcasses from the place where they were harvested; CWD has now been found in every surveillance zone in Kansas. The infectious CWD prion is most concentrated in lymph nodes, brain and spinal cord; therefore, the most infectious part of the animal is the head, spinal column, and internal organs. This is why some 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 (carcasses included) they generate on their own property (KSA 653409A1). However, guests and friends may not bury their carcasses on another person's property. Those who do not own land, and therefore cannot bury carcasses, are encouraged to contact their county landfill and ask for permission to properly dispose of their carcasses. Not only does this help prevent the spread of CWD, it also helps keep carcasses out of ditches, off roads, and out of rivers and streams.
What Causes CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease)
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is caused by an abnormal protein, also 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 cytoplasmic vacuolation (holes in the brain). This progressive neurologic disease continues, ultimately ending in the death of the animal, either directly, or, more commonly, with the cervid being more vulnerable to predation (predators of all kinds including humans), exposure to the environment, collisions with vehicles, and entangling in fences. Prions are very resistance to environmental degradation; therefore, prions excreted by the body of the cervid 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. Animals were found to excrete infectious CWD prions beginning about 4 months after infection. 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.
CWD Distribution History II
Surveillance Zones
Positive CWD Deer Map
2025-2026 CWD Sampling and Testing
Free CWD testing, through KDWP, is available on a limited statewide basis during the 2025-2026 deer seasons until allocated funding is gone. A completed data card is required for free testing.
If you participate in KDWP's free cwd testing, remember your deer ID number. Deer IDs and their corresponding results will be posted at the "2025-2026 CWD Testing Results" link.
The deer ID on the data card must be the ID that is on the jar containing the sample!
Hunters can find their CWD result at the 2025-2026 CWD Testing Results. This is why it is very important to get and keep a record of your deer ID at the time it is sampled, so the ID and the corresponding result can be found. No hunters will receive results via call, text, email, or regular mail.
Samples will be tested by IHC (immunohistochemistry) at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL).
Testing results typically take 1.5 weeks once the sample(s) arrive at the lab. During high volume sample periods, results may take 2 weeks or longer.
Hunters can submit samples to KSVDL and pay for their own testing if desired. No completed KDWP data card is required when hunters pay for their own testing.
2025-2026 CWD Sample Collectors (Call Collector to Make Sampling Arrangements)
Northcentral Zone, Samples Only
Location Name
Phone
City
Phillipsburg Locker
785-543-2312
Phillipsburg
Tipi Taxidermy
785-476-5383
Kensington
Beaver Creek Taxidermy
785-282-0907
Smith Center
Breese Deer Processing
785-282-6404
Smith Center
White Rock Taxidermy
785-545-6862
Burr Oak
It's Alive Taxidermy
785-577-6204
Brookville
Nick's Taxidermy
402-879-5835
Superior, Neb.
Fine Art Taxidermy
785-322-0011
Ellis
Wildlife Biologist Sampling Locations
Office / County / Address
Phone
City
Colby District Office
Thomas
915 E Walnut St.
785-462-3367
(Ask for Kevin or Abby)
Colby
Cheney Wildlife Area
Reno
21514 S. Yoder Rd.
620-459-6922
(Ask for Keith)
Pretty Prairie
Tuttle Creek State Park
Riley
5800A River Pond Rd.
785-539-7941
(Ask for Ben)
Manhattan
Dodge City Office
Ford
1001 W McArtor Rd.
620-227-8609
(Ask for Aaron or Jared)
Dodge City
Fall River Wildlife Area
Greenwood
1739 80th St.
620-583-6783
(Ask for Vickie)
Climax
Region 3 Office, Wichita
Sedgwick
6232 E 29th St. N
316-683-8069
(Ask for Charlie or Jon)
Wichita
Kansas City Office
Johnson
8304 Hedge Lane Terrace
913-422-1314
(Ask for Andy or Tim)
Shawnee
Fort Scott Office
Bourbon
1515 S Judson St.
620-223-9671
(Ask for Justin)
Fort Scott
Emporia Office
Lyon
1830 Merchant
620-342-0658
(Ask for Shane or Levi)
Emporia
Region 1 Office, Hays
Ellis
1426 Hwy US-183 Alt.
785-628-8614
(Ask for Lucas or Andy)
Hays
Mined Land Wildlife Area
Crawford
507 E 560th Ave.
620-231-3173
(Ask for Logan)
Pittsburg
Garden City Office
Finney
785 S Old Hwy US-83
620-276-8886
(Ask for Kurtis)
Garden City
Marion Wildlife Area
Marion
2613 N Jade Rd.
620-732-3946
(Ask for Jeff)
Hillsboro
Region 2 Office, Topeka
Shawnee
300 SW Wanamaker Rd.
785-273-6740
(Ask for Brad or Kyle)
Topeka
Elkhart Office
Morton
745 Vilymaca
620-417-5150
(Ask for Kraig)
Elkhart
Blue Rapids Office
Marshall
801 S Main St.
785-363-7316
(Ask for Megan)
Blue Rapids
Wilson Area Office
Russell
#3 Wilson State Park Rd.
785-658-2465
(Ask for James)
Sylvan Grove
Milford Wildlife Area
Clay
1782 10th Rd.
785-259-2474
(Ask for Clint)
Clay Center
Perry Wildlife Area
Jefferson
7760 174th St.
785-945-6615
(Ask for Tyler)
Valley Falls
Webster Office
Rooks
1140 Ten Rd.
785-425-6775
(Ask for Eric)
Stockton
Ottawa SFL Office
Ottawa
785-488-2123
(Ask for Pat)
Minneapolis
Texas Lake Wildlife Area
Kiowa
10270 NW 130th Ave.
620-450-7215
(Ask for Jacob)
Haviland
Glen Elder Wildlife Area
Mitchell
2131 180 Rd.
785-545-3345
(Ask for Brandon)
Glen Elder
Woodson Wildlife Area
Woodson
738 Fegan Rd.
620-637-2748
(Ask for Cassie)
Toronto
Statewide Sampling and Free CWD Testing
Statewide sampling and free testing includes:
The targeted Northcentral Zone this year. and
Statewide hunter-harvested deer, 1.5 years old and older, that interested hunters wish to have sampled and tested. This free CWD testing service is available on a first-come, first-served basis until testing funds are exhausted.
A complete data card (front and back) must be completed for each deer to be tested. Data cards can be obtained from biologists listed in the list of Collectors. A blank data card is are also available on CWD page of the Hunting Regulations Summary available at sporting goods stores. Testing has to be paid by the hunter if no completed (front and back) data card is provided.
A completed (front and back) data card must be shipped with each sample to the lab to qualify for free testing. Biologists can ship the samples to make the process easier. See "2025-2026 CWD Sample Collectors" link to contact a biologist.
Any unique Deer ID can be used, but the Deer ID on the data card must match the Deer ID on the container with the sample.
2025-2026 CWD Testing Results
A "Negative" result has the following standard definition. Based on current transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) research and pathogenesis studies, it is possible to have protease resistant prion protein present at levels below the sensitivity of this test. It should also be noted that protease resistant prion protein may be present in tissues other than those that were examined. This analysis was performed and validated using scrapie positive brain or lymph node tissues as controls.
CWD results take about 1 month after samples are received when the lab is inundated with sample submissions. On the flipside, it is highly recommended that venison be frozen for at least 30 days before cooking or dehydrating to help kill any parasites that may be present. When the lab is not as busy during the start of deer season, CWD testing typically takes 2 weeks.