State wildlife officials warn of chronic wasting disease cluster in Castle Valley and urge residents to report sick or roadkill deer

Division of Wildlife Resources officials told the Castle Valley Town Council on Oct. 15 that chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal prion disease of deer, elk and moose, has been detected in the region and that recent local samples are cause for concern.

"Chronic wasting disease is always fatal," said Ginger Stout, the DWR statewide wildlife veterinarian, describing CWD as a transmissible prion disease that causes weight loss, drooling, circling and loss of fear of humans. She said prions can persist in soil for more than five years and can be shed through saliva, feces and other body fluids, which makes environmental contamination an important driver of spread.

Ian Montgomery, the DWR district biologist for the LaSalle unit, said the agency has taken limited samples in Castle Valley in recent years and that of 11 samples collected locally over the last three years, seven returned positive and one was listed as suspect. Montgomery emphasized the sample size is small and may not represent the entire population but said the concentration of positives in Castle Valley and neighboring Moab merited additional surveillance and public reporting.

Statewide, DWR reported 98 positive detections this past year from about 2,400 animals sampled, including four elk; DWR staff said prevalence and geographic spread in Utah have increased since the first detections in 2002. Montgomery said that in some units DWR’s sample prevalence estimates ranged from about 15% up to 50% in years with sparse sampling.

DWR staff outlined the steps residents and hunters can take to slow spread: do not feed deer (town-level feeding restrictions help avoid congregation), avoid whole-carcass movement (quarter and leave in the field or dispose at a landfill), report sick or roadkill deer to DWR for sampling, and support targeted hunts in hotspot areas. "If you test positive, don't eat it," Stout said, noting the CDC recommends not consuming CWD-positive deer. Staff said they are working to shorten lab turnaround time (historically about six weeks) to roughly two weeks if supply and capacity allow.

Residents asked practical questions about testing, processor safety and local options for managing resident deer. DWR advised that lymphoid and nervous tissues carry the highest prion concentration, that processors may need to handle potentially positive deer separately, and that translocation of deer is no longer used because of the risk of spreading prions to new areas. DWR said limited-entry targeted hunts planned for November will aim at removing mature bucks that can move infection across ranges, and staff noted the state also operates urban-deer programs and depredation tags as separate tools.

DWR staff left contact cards and asked residents to call the regional office or dispatch line if they see sick or dead deer so the agency can collect samples and monitor trends. "Please continue to report any sickly or roadkill deer so we can increase sample sizes," Montgomery said. The presentation closed with DWR offering to cooperate on local outreach and sampling logistics.

The council did not take formal action on CWD at the meeting; DWR’s visit was informational and the agency requested ongoing cooperation from residents and town staff.