Montana Reports 142 Animals with CWD

Chronic Wasting Disease continued to spread in Montana. According to the latest Fish, Wildlife and Parks report, samples from 142 animals were found infected with CWD. That included 86 white-tailed deer, 53 mule deer, two moose and one elk. It's the first incidence of the fatal disease in moose and elk in the state. Also, a single game farm elk in eastern Montana tested positive for CWD and that herd is now under quarantine.

The 2019-2020 sampling was from April 1, 2019, to January 29, 2020 and tested 6,977 samples - 38 percent outside priority areas and 15 percent submitted by hunters. CWD was first detected in Montana in 2017. The new infected samples have increased the size of some of the priority areas on the north and south borders of Montana. Officials estimate the infection rate at between 1 and 7 percent in mule deer and 1 to 4 percent in white-tailed deer. However, in the town of Libby, the rate was 13 percent of white-tailed deer. Chronic Wasting Disease is fatal among deer, elk and moose.