CWD Results and Surveillance

CWD Results Lookup

This Lookup Tool is only available for deer harvested or permitted during the current program year (July 1 through June 30). Results for elk are always mailed out directly to hunters or permit holders.

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Thank you for participating in Pennsylvania’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance efforts. CWD test results provide the Game Commission with critical information about the health of Pennsylvania's wild deer and elk populations, thereby helping us better manage these valuable resources.

What do the results mean?

The Game Commission screens lymph node and brainstem samples collected from deer and elk for infectious CWD prions, the agent that causes the disease. Detected means that the prions were detected in the tissue tested and your deer or elk is CWD positive. Not Detected means that the prions were not detected in the tissue tested. Inconclusive means that results were not obtained due to poor quality tissues or incomplete tissue collection. CWD testing is not a food safety test. Failure to detect CWD prions does not guarantee that the deer or elk is CWD-free, but a CWD Not Detected result does mean that the deer or elk is less likely to have the disease. While there is currently no strong evidence that people can get infected with CWD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend not consuming any meat from a CWD-positive animal (CDC).
The Game Commission cannot make definitive statements on the safety of any wild meat and any decisions regarding wild meat consumption are at the sole discretion of the hunter. Any hunter who harvests a CWD-positive deer or elk is eligible for a replacement tag. For more information, or if you have any questions about CWD, please call (833) INFO-CWD or email infocwd@pa.gov.

Will a deer dropped off at a processor be tested?

There is no guarantee that a deer taken to a processor will be tested for CWD. While the majority of CWD testing is performed on samples collected from head-collection containers and road-killed deer, samples from a limited number of deer taken to processors are randomly tested for CWD as part of the Game Commission’s surveillance program. You may use the CWD Results lookup tool to see if a deer taken to a processor was tested.

I received a CWD detected result, now what?

If you received a CWD Detected result for your submitted sample, please call the CWD hotline at (833)-463-6293. We can answer any questions you may have and collect additional information on the positive animal as an important part of the CWD surveillance program. You will also receive a certified letter notifying you of these results and you are eligible for a free replacement permit.

When was CWD first detected in Pennsylvania?

The first case of CWD in Pennsylvania was detected in 2012 in white-tailed deer. To date, CWD has not been detected in any elk within the Commonwealth.

What data are included within this map?

This interactive map tracks the Pennsylvania Game Commission's CWD surveillance efforts within Pennsylvania’s free-ranging wild deer and elk populations, along with the sample prevalence (i.e., proportion of all samples tested that are positive for CWD) by specific areas, seasons, sources, and demographics. While the CWD sample prevalence is displayed across a variety of maps within this dashboard, it is of particular importance within the CWD Established Area and Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) units. Monitoring the prevalence at these levels allows the Game Commission to determine if we are meeting the CWD prevalence objectives outlined in the CWD Response Plan. Deer data is from July 1, 2013, to present, while elk data is from July 1, 2016, to present. Each season runs from July 1st through June 30th (e.g., the 2020-21 season begins on July 1, 2020, and concludes on June 30, 2021). The dashboard is refreshed on a weekly basis and presented across three pages: Samples Over Time, Sample Statistics, and Samples by County.

Please note that this is not a food-safety test. A Not Detected test result does not guarantee that an individual animal is free of the disease. However, it does make it less likely, and may reduce your risk of exposure to CWD-positive tissue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that people not consume meat from animals that test positive for CWD.