First CWD case detected in Idaho domestic elk

BOISE — The Idaho State Department of Agriculture confirmed that one domestic bull elk has tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in Madison County, according to a release sent out by the agency, marking the first case of CWD identified in a captive elk facility in Idaho.

Tissue samples were submitted for routine testing after a domestic elk died at the Madison County facility, ISDA said. USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the CWD detection. 

The infected animal was among a group of elk transported to the Idaho ranch in March 2023 from a facility in Alberta, Canada. The Idaho elk facility met the requirements for international movements and was approved to import the animals, ISDA confirmed. 

Shortly after the shipment was received in Idaho, the origin ranch in Alberta confirmed a CWD-positive elk on the premises. Once ISDA was notified of the CWD-positive elk from the Canadian ranch, the shipment that arrived in Idaho was placed under a protective quarantine to restrict further movement of the CWD-exposed animals. All remaining elk that arrived in the 2023 shipment are alive and will remain under state-issued quarantine, according to the release.

CWD was first detected in wild deer in Idaho in 2021 and the following year in wild elk. 

CWD is a rare disease affecting the brains of mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose and reindeer. The disease belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. There is no known cure for TSEs, and they always are fatal in susceptible host species.

There is no record of CWD infections occurring in people, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends that people do not eat meat from CWD affected animals.