AUSTIN – Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been discovered in deer breeding facilities in both Matagorda and Mason counties. This marks the first positive detection of the disease in these counties.
An epidemiological investigation found that both deer breeding facilities had received deer from a Uvalde County premises where CWD was found on March 29. Postmortem tissues samples were submitted by the permitted deer breeders to assist the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) with the epidemiological investigation. The National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, has since confirmed CWD in those tissue samples.
TPWD and TAHC officials have taken immediate action to secure all cervids at the Matagorda County and Mason County deer breeding facilities and plan to conduct additional investigations for CWD. In addition, other breeding facilities and release sites that have received deer from these facilities or shipped deer to these facilities during the last five years have been contacted by TPWD and cannot move or release deer at this time.
On March 31, TPWD and TAHC reported two CWD confirmations at breeding facilities in both Hunt and Uvalde counties. The Hunt facility underwent further DNA testing to confirm animal identification and origin, and on May 12 the DNA test results confirmed the deer’s connection to the premises.
“Regrettably, the gravity of this situation continues to mount with these new CWD positive discoveries, as well as with the full understanding of just how many other facilities and release sites across Texas were connected to the CWD positive sites in Uvalde and Hunt Counties,” said Carter Smith, Executive Director of TPWD. “Along with our partners at the Texas Animal Health Commission, we will continue to exercise great diligence and urgency with this ongoing investigation. Accelerating the testing at other exposed facilities
