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U.S. Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

Veterinary Services

Annual Update from the Cervid Health Team 

Fiscal Year (FY) 2019

Voluntary Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Herd Certification Program

The APHIS National CWD Herd Certification Program (HCP) was implemented in 2014. It is a 

voluntary Federal-State-industry cooperative program administered by APHIS and implemented 

by participating States. The program provides uniform national herd certification standards that 

minimize the risk of spreading CWD in farmed cervid populations. Participating States and herd 

owners must comply with requirements for animal identification, fencing, recordkeeping, 

inspections/inventories, as well as animal mortality testing and response to any CWD-exposed, 

suspect, and positive herds. APHIS monitors the Approved State HCPs to ensure consistency with 

Federal standards through annual reporting by the States.

With each year of successful surveillance, herds participating in the HCP will advance in status 

until reaching five years with no evidence of CWD, at which time herds are certified as being 

low risk for CWD. Only farmed cervids from enrolled herds certified as low risk for CWD may 

move interstate. Currently, 28 States participate in the voluntary CWD Herd Certification 

Program and have Approved HCPs. FY 2019 marks the seventh year that Approved States have 

submitted their CWD HCP annual reports to APHIS. In FY 2019 there were 2,192 enrolled 

cervidae herds: 1,696 deer, 361 elk and 135 mixed species herds. Of those, there were 1,748 

certified cervidae herds: 1,337 deer, 314 elk and 97 mixed species herds.

CWD in Farmed Cervids

Summary of CWD detections. As of September 30, 2019, CWD has been confirmed in wild 

deer and elk in 23 U.S. States, and in farmed cervids in 17 States. In total, 26 States have 

identified CWD in wild and/or farmed cervids. CWD has been reported in 117 farmed cervid 

herds in the United States.

FY 2019 CWD Detections in Farmed Cervids: Seventeen newly-identified CWD positive 

farmed cervid herds were identified in FY 2019 (9 white-tailed deer, 6 elk, and 2 mixed herds).

Twelve herds were within 20 miles of confirmed CWD positives in the wild. 

Pennsylvania:

November, 2018: NVSL confirmed CWD in a three and a half year old white-tailed doe in 

Fulton County. The doe was a natural addition to the 23 head breeding deer herd that sits 

within a half mile of where CWD has been identified in the wild. This herd was not enrolled 

in the HCP and was depopulated with Federal funds in April of 2019. All 23 depopulated 

animals were found to be CWD positive.
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January, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a three and a half year old white-tailed buck 

in Clearfield County. The buck was a purchased addition to a hunt preserve of 12 whitetailed deer that was not a participant in the Federal HCP. This animal resided on the 

preserve four days before being hunted. The animal was traced back to an HCP-certified 

breeding herd in Fulton County within a CWD-endemic area. This breeding herd consisted 

of 137 white-tailed deer and was depopulated in May, 2019 with Federal indemnity. There 

were 27 additional positives identified at depopulation.

April, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in one three and one four year old white-tailed doe in 

a breeding herd in Fulton County in a CWD-endemic area. The herd consists of 12 whitetailed deer and is not enrolled in the Federal HCP. The herd is under quarantine and the 

owner will depopulate. 

May, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a two and a half year old white-tailed buck in Fulton 

County. The buck was a natural addition to the 320 head breeding deer herd that lies within 

a CWD-endemic area. This herd was not enrolled in the Federal HCP and is under 

quarantine. To date, eight additional CWD-positive animals have been identified from this 

herd. 

June, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a six year old white-tailed doe in Perry County. The 

doe was a natural addition to the 222 head breeding deer herd that lies within a CWDendemic area. This herd was double fenced and certified in the Federal HCP. It is currently 

under quarantine. 

Wisconsin: 

January, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a six year old white-tailed buck in a Forrest 

County hunt preserve. This herd was already under a trace quarantine from a breeding 

facility in Marinette County in FY18 and is not enrolled in the Federal HCP. This hunt 

preserve consists of approximately 399 animals, is not in a CWD endemic area, and 

remains under quarantine. 

June, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a two and a half year old white-tailed buck in 

Portage County. The buck was a purchased addition to a hunt preserve of 151 white-tailed 

deer not enrolled in the Federal HCP. CWD has been detected 11 miles from this site. The 

index animal resided there for five days prior to being harvested. This herd was 

depopulated with State indemnity and no additional positive cases were found. The source 

herd for the index animal was a double-fenced, federally certified HCP breeding herd

within a CWD-endemic area consisting of 42 white-tailed deer. The herd was depopulated 

with Federal funds. An additional six CWD-positive animals were identified at

depopulation.

August, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a six year old elk bull in in Burnette County. The 

bull was a purchased addition to a small breeding herd of five elk five years prior to CWD 

detection. The herd is certified in the Federal HCP, within an area endemic for CWD, and 

is currently under quarantine. 
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South Dakota:

January, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a two year old elk cow in Clark County. The 

cow was a purchased addition to the herd, which was certified in the Federal HCP. The 

herd consisted of 18 animals and was depopulated with Federal funds in October, 2019.

CWD test results are pending. CWD has not been identified in the wild in this area. The 

source herd for this animal was in Meade County certified in the Federal HCP. CWD was 

identified in a seven year old bull and an eight year old cow elk in September, 2019. This 

herd consisted of five animals, was not in a CWD-endemic area, and was depopulated with 

Federal funds in October, 2019. CWD test results are pending. 

Colorado:

October, 2018: NVSL confirmed CWD in a seven year old cow elk from a hunt preserve 

in Mesa County. The bull was a purchased addition and was moved into a pasture that had 

previously contained CWD-positive animals. This herd is certified in the Federal HCP 

certified, consists of 191 animals, and remains under quarantine.

November, 2018: NVSL confirmed CWD in a one and a half year old elk bull in Jackson 

County. The bull was a natural addition to the herd which is certified in the Federal HCP 

and consists of 42 animals within a CWD-endemic area. This herd is under quarantine.

Michigan:

September, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a two year old female white-tailed deer in 

Montcalm County. The doe was a natural addition to the breeding herd which consists of 

50 white-tailed deer. This herd is not enrolled in the Federal HCP, is within a CWDendemic area, and is under quarantine. 

Nebraska: 

September, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a five year old elk cow in Buffalo County. 

The cow was a purchase addition to the herd in 2018. This is a breeding herd of 48 elk and 

it is not enrolled in the Federal HCP. The herd is currently under quarantine and is not in 

an area where CWD has been identified. The source herd of this animal was an HCPcertified herd in Lincoln County, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma:

April, 2019: NVSL confirmed CWD in a two year old elk bull in and in a two year old elk 

cow in May, 2019 in Lincoln County. Both were natural additions to the herd. This herd 

was certified in the Federal HCP and consisted of 246 elk in the breeding area, and more 

than 50 in the hunt preserve. Animals in the breeding facility and hunt preserve were 

depopulated with Federal funds in August and September, 2019. No additional CWD 

positive animals were identified. 
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Cervid Health Program Staffing

The USDA APHIS Cervid Health Program (CHP) has undergone some organizational and staffing 

changes in FY19. Small ruminant health programs including CHP are now a part of the Ruminant 

Health Center under the direction of Dr. Alecia Naugle. Dr. Diane Sutton is the Ruminant Health 

Center Assistant Director for small ruminant health programs. Dr. Nancy Hannaway is no longer 

with the CHP and Drs. Byron Schick and Tracy Nichols are the current CHP points of contact. Dr. 

Nichols is primary for CWD policy, research coordination and tissue archive. Dr. Schick is primary 

for cervid indemnity, cervid TB and brucellosis policy, and CWD annual reporting.

CWD Program Standards

The CWD Program Standards were published and took effect in May, 2019. A webinar 

highlighting the most significant changes was presented to State Animal Health officials to 

clarify important aspects of the standards such as consequences of poor quality and missing 

samples, ante mortem diagnostics, sample collection and submission, epidemiological 

investigations, indemnity, and biosecurity. This webinar, and others related to the revised 

Program Standards, can be found on the Cervid Health Webpage 

(www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/cervid) on the CWD Herd Certification Program page linked

from the CWD Section. Additionally, the Cervid Health Program continues to address topics 

related to the changes in the Program Standards on monthly calls with State Animal Health 

officials to allow for questions and clarifications. 

CWD Research and the Cervid Health Program

Determination of the predictive value of whole genome markers: USDA APHIS initiated, and then 

collaborated with Texas Parks and Wildlife, on a study with Texas A&M University geneticist Dr. 

Christopher Seabury to evaluate the white-tailed deer genome for genetic markers that might 

influence susceptibility to CWD. Dr. Seabury identified a suite of genes (inside and outside of the 

prion gene) that appear to predict the susceptibility of WTD to CWD with greater than 80% accuracy. 

The study will be submitted for scientific peer review shortly. Based on the preliminary findings 

from this initial study, APHIS and Texas Parks and Wildlife have provided funding to validate the 

predictive model and will provide additional samples to better inform the model for potential use in 

the future. 

Evaluation of RT-QuIC assay on targeted ante and post mortem tissue samples: The RT-QuIC 

amplification assay has been demonstrated by numerous scientific studies to be a highly sensitive 

tool for the detection of CWD. There is increased interest by both the cervid industry and wildlife 

managers to develop more sensitive ante and post mortem CWD diagnostic tools. This topic was 

also identified as one of the top five most important CWD research targets at the 2019 CWD 

Research Consortium hosted by Michigan State University. Dr. Nichols from the APHIS Cervid 

Health Program is a member of this consortium and is collaborating with the USDA Agricultural 

Research Service (ARS) in Pullman, WA, and USGS National Wildlife Health Center in 

Madison, WI to evaluate RT-QuIC CWD detection sensitivity and specificity on retropharyngeal 

lymph node, as tonsil and rectal biopsy. 
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TB in Farmed Cervids

Annual TB Surveillance Summary

In FY 2019, 10,285 cervids were tested for bovine TB using the DPP serologic test and 2,658 cervids 

were tested using the single cervical test (SCT). 

The primary DPP serological testing identified 27 TB suspects (0.26%); 12 of these animals tested 

negative, 9 tested positive on the re-test at least 30 days later and were classified reactor, and 3 were 

euthanized without a 2nd DPP. Three animals are pending retest. From the 9 reactors, 8 cultured 

negative for M. bovis and one animal is pending necropsy.

The SCT test identified 41 responders (1.54%). All responders were retested with the Comparative 

Cervical Test and were found negative.

Cervid TB: DPP evaluation in Mule and Sika Deer

On October 1, 2018, Veterinary Services initiated a pilot project to evaluate the Dual Path Platform 

(DPP) test in Mule and Sika deer. 

The Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB) licensed the DPP in 2012 as a primary test for elk, red 

deer, white-tailed deer, and fallow deer. Veterinary Services approved the DPP for official TB 

program tests in cervid species for elk, red deer, white-tailed deer, fallow deer and reindeer. 

The DPP has been widely accepted in the cervid industry. The test has demonstrated sufficient 

sensitivity and specificity in the species for which it is approved. The advantage of the serologic test 

is that it requires only one capture event; thereby, reducing the potential for injury and improving 

animal welfare. Cervid industry representatives have identified the evaluation of the DPP for use in 

mule deer and sika deer as a priority.

The DPP will be evaluated as a primary and secondary test for TB in Mule and Sika deer. The project 

will utilize serum samples submitted by designated accredited veterinarians for herd TB certification 

purposes. Samples will be collected and submitted in a manner consistent with the requirements of 

Veterinary Services Guidance 6701.3 and will be considered Official cervid TB tests. 

The project will end for each species when a sample size target of 306 individual animals has been 

reached. The project for Mule and Sika DPP validation will occur concurrently. As of September 30, 

2019 VS NVSL has processed 10 samples for Mule deer and 0 samples for Sika deer.

Industry representatives have indicated the use of the DPP will likely increase in Mule and Sika 

over the next two years as herds rotate through the 36 month herd accreditation interval.