Most of Lancaster County will be in the chronic wasting disease quarantine zone in 2020 after a deer in the county recently tested positive for the disease, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced Wednesday.
A press release from the agency said the deer was raised in captivity, but it did not include where. A game commission spokesman confirmed Wednesday the deer was raised north of Lancaster city.
The 364-square-mile DMA 4 quarantine zone was established in 2018 and includes northern Lancaster County as well as parts of Berks and Lebanon counties.
The fatal disease, CWD, spreads among deer, elk and moose, and there is no known treatment or vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports no strong evidence that humans can contract the disease, but it does note concerns about risks to people.
HEATHER STAUFFER | Staff WriterThe game commission reported 123 cases statewide in 2018, which is the most since the disease was first confirmed in the state in 2012.
In August, the agency’s chronic wasting disease spokeswoman told LNP that if there are no positive tests for the disease for five consecutive years, the quarantine zone could be dissolved.
Instead, the zone will be expanded southward next year, according to the game commission.
The agency said hunters who harvest deer in Lancaster County can submit their deer heads in collection containers available throughout the quarantine zone. An interactive map with collection sites is available at www.pgc.pa.gov.
Effects on hunters, public
Hunters will not be able to transport whole deer they shoot outside the zone. This means they have to process their deer themselves, or take it to be processed, within the zone. Deer they shoot will be tested.
Hunters will not be able to use cover-up scents derived from deer urine.
And the public will not be allowed to feed deer, as the disease is spread by bodily fluids. Congregation of deer is a key way the disease is spread among them.
