(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Montana FWP hosts Chronic Wasting Disease testing workshop [1] ['Jordan Hansen', 'Micah Drew', 'More From Author', 'November', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img'] Date: 2025-11-13 BOZEMAN —Scattered across a couple tables at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 3 Headquarters on Wednesday night, were the decapitated heads of several deer. Those attending the event, aimed at teaching the public about Chronic Wasting Disease, got expert instruction on how to remove lymph nodes from an animal, which are then sent to a lab for testing. Chronic Wasting Disease, often abbreviated as “CWD,” is a neurological disease that elk, deer and moose can be infected with. It is not a virus nor a bacteria, but a transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Basically, a naturally occurring protein, called a prion, becomes misfolded and is not broken down by the animal the way it should be. Prions can be spread through contact, feces, and other bodily fluids. Soil that has been contaminated with any of those fluids can also infect other animals. CWD is always fatal to the creature and they may carry and spread the disease long before they show symptoms. Those symptoms can sometimes be similar to other animal diseases and there isn’t a cure. There’s also never been a confirmed case of CWD transmission to humans. It’s one of the main wild animal diseases the state is investing significant time, money and staffing into. “We have to respond pretty rapidly when we get a first detection, because it’s probably been there for a while,” FWP wildlife biologist Bevin McCormick said. “So that is a really big challenge.” Meat from animals testing positive for CWD should not be eaten and part of Wednesday’s event was to show how easy the process of removing lymph nodes was. Following a demonstration from agency staffer Jasmine Allison, those in attendance were given a head, gloves and a scalpel. Montana State freshman Candace Ashworth, who said she came to the event because she’s curious about animal diseases and it fits within her classwork, thought the experience was pretty cool. “I’ve done dissections for anatomy classes before in high school,” Ashworth said. “And I’m like, this is totally different, and something that I can actually use later in life. I go hunting. This is super important and I didn’t know how to figure out what they sample.” The process is not particularly difficult — which staff in attendance stressed — but there are a few things that help. First and foremost, if you bring a head to any of FWP’s facilities, they’ll get the glands out for you. Some people prefer mailing in the samples, which is also an option. It can take a few days for outlying offices to get a result back, staff said, though the FWP headquarters facility is across the street from where they test samples, meaning turnaround time is quick there. It’s hard to tell if an animal is outwardly sick, so FWP stresses to always get an animal tested. Not everyone does, though but Allison said the little bit of time out of the day is worth knowing. “Even if you did the whole process with us at one of our stations, 15 minutes, max,” she said. One of the biggest things hunters can do to help is to make sure they leave a few inches of neck, as this makes it easier to recover the glands. The lymph nodes will also feel very different than the surrounding tissue, Allison said. Chronic Wasting Disease is a rising issue in Montana, with the first confirmed case coming in from a deer in 2017. Since that point, the state has undertaken a significant surveillance effort, though work in-state tracking the disease goes back to 1998. Beyond the disease testing service, a CWD annual report is generated each year by the agency and maps documenting where the disease has been found are updated frequently. During the 2024-25 hunting season, the state tested just less than 10,000 deer, elk and moose for CWD. “Of these, 356 animals tested positive for CWD, including 128 mule deer, 222 white-tailed deer, and 6 elk,” the 2024 CWD annual report states. The report goes on to say the disease has been found in 30% of Montana hunting districts. Seven new districts reported CWD cases last year, the report said, and other districts reported new species getting the disease. “The geographic distribution of CWD continues to expand and prevalences continue to increase statewide,” the report states. Some areas of the state are also designated as CWD hotspots (called priority sampling areas) as well as a CWD Management Zone around Libby where the disease is more common. Management hunts are one strategy that’s been tried around Libby, which the annual report says is being considered for hotspots in southwest Montana. Many of the hotspots are around major interstates, meaning there could be some degree of humans moving around the disease. That’s FWP suggests discarding anything from the animal in a class 2 landfill — prions can enter the water table and stay there for years. “FWP continues to plan for long-term CWD management in positive areas,” the report reads. Importantly, CWD does not appear to be a major threat to cattle, though there are other diseases stemming from wild animals that are. A 10-year University of Wyoming study published in 2018 concluded that, “the risks of CWD transmission to cattle following oral inoculation or after prolonged exposure to contaminated environments are low.” CSKT awaiting confirmation on CWD test Tribal authorities said Thursday that a second case of CWD was awaiting confirmation from a white-tailed deer harvested on the Flathead Indian Reservation. CSKT’s Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Recreation and Conservation is awaiting the results of the test from a second laboratory. A confirmed positive result was found in January, a tribal press release said. “Our goal is to protect the community and prevent further spreading within our Reservation,” Rich Janssen, Natural Resources Department Head said in a release. “Tribal hunters need to be testing their harvests.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2025/11/13/fwp-hosts-chronic-wasting-disease-self-testing-workshop/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/