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Division to trial mandatory CWD testing during Ogden general-season deer hunt
Summary
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will require mandatory chronic wasting disease (CWD) sampling during a 10-day general-season deer hunt in the Ogden unit as a trial to improve prevalence estimates. Hunters may submit self-collected samples or use check stations; the first year will be a trial with enforcement tied to a code fee.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources announced a trial mandatory sampling program for chronic wasting disease during the 10-day general-season deer hunt in the Ogden unit to get better prevalence data.
Ginger, a division wildlife health staffer, told the Central Region Advisory Committee that geographic spread is apparent on surveillance maps and the program aims to fill gaps in sampling. "It started on the East side," she said, describing the pattern of positive detections. Ginger said testing requires submission of lymph-node or brainstem tissue to an approved diagnostic lab and that laboratory turnaround runs "two to six weeks." She said the division will provide training materials—videos and information sheets—and offer check stations and drop-off freezers to collect samples.
RAC members pressed on logistics and authority. John Ziegler, a RAC member representing watchable wildlife, asked why a hunter would be allowed to retain a CWD-positive carcass; Ginger replied, "We can't force anyone to turn over their meat, but we do recommend that they do hand it over, and then we can get it incinerated." Jim Schuler, another RAC member, asked whether CWD has been proven to transmit to humans; Ginger said that while laboratory research is ongoing there is no confirmed animal-to-human transmission to date.
The division said the mandatory phase will start as a trial in the Ogden unit because the unit needs more samples to estimate prevalence accurately. "If we could... I would love to have all the samples of every hunter, but that's just not feasible for workload and funding," Ginger said, explaining resource limits. Hunters will be able to self-collect samples following division guidance and drop them at designated freezers for later pickup by biologists; the division also will continue voluntary sampling elsewhere.
Enforcement in the first year will rely on an administrative fee in code rather than criminal penalties, the presenter said, and the division plans a larger outreach campaign to encourage voluntary sampling alongside the trial mandatory requirement. The division also said it will evaluate the trial and consider expansion only if data needs and logistics support it.
The RAC did not take a formal vote on the testing program itself during the meeting but asked the division to proceed with outreach and the planned pilot in the Ogden unit. The division plans to report results and implementation lessons to the RAC and Wildlife Board following the trial.
