LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The discovery of one or more deer suffering from chronic wasting disease at a captive animal facility in southern Lancaster County caused the Pennsylvania Game Commission to expand the quarantine area in an attempt to thwart the expansion of the contagious disease.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an illness that kills deer by attacking their brains, causing them to lose motor function, the Game Commission said. It is similar in nature to mad cow disease, and can spread between captive and wild deer through direct physical contact or with the exchange of bodily fluids.
“Although CWD has not been documented in humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not eating the meat of a CWD-positive deer,” commission officials said in an announcement Monday afternoon.
The Game Commission did not share details on where the infection was discovered in Monday's announcement, nor did it provide details on the number of deer that were found to be infected.
The Game Commission said it will expand its Disease Management Area 4 in an effort to combat the spread of CWD. A disease management area, or DMA, is an area where increased regulations are put in place to help prevent the spread of the disease.
The new DMA will follow the Susquehanna River south to the Maryland border, and the Octoraro Creek north to the area's old boundary.
DMA 4 includes parts of Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties. It was first drawn up in 2018, after infected deer were discovered at a captive facility in southern Lancaster County.
This year's discovery of at least one infected deer is the third time CWD has been found at captive facilities in DMA 4, the Game Commission said in its announcement.
So far, CWD has never been discovered among wild deer in DMA 4, according to the Game Commission.
The Game Commission's announcement also said it will expand DMA 2, which covers a large part of South Central Pennsylvania, including portions of Dauphin County. CWD-infected deer were found both in the wild and in captive deer in that area, the Game Commission said.
The Game Commission will also create a new DMA in the northeast portion of the state after the disease was found in a captive facility in Lycoming County, the announcement said.
The newly created DMA 7 will include portions of Lycoming, Northumberland, Montour, Columbia, and Sullivan counties, the Game Commission said.
The creation of DMA 7 brings the number of DMAs statewide to five.
“The Game Commission conducts road-killed deer surveillance year-round so there is potential for the boundaries to change prior to the hunting seasons,” officials said in their announcement.
More information about chronic wasting disease, including management area maps, can be found on the commission’s website.
