TPWD TO HOST MEETING ON CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE WEDNESDAY

  

Landowners and hunters in Washington County are invited this (Wednesday) evening to an informational meeting about chronic wasting disease (CWD).

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) will host the meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Washington County Expo Event Center in Brenham.

The meeting will go over what CWD is and how it impacts wildlife, the implementation and rules of surveillance zones, and where residents can submit testing samples for analysis.  A Q&A session will be offered.

A case of CWD was confirmed in March in a white-tailed deer at a deer-breeding facility. 

A map shared by TPWD (pictured below) shows the mandatory 2-mile surveillance zone around the area of the first confirmed case, where anyone who harvests wildlife will be required to submit samples.  The zone is located just north of Brenham, with the Brenham Municipal Airport close to the center.   

CWD severely hinders a deer’s neurological function and is ultimately fatal.  There is currently no evidence that the prion disease can affect humans, but wildlife experts recommend avoiding eating meat from infected animals.

Last month, county commissioners chose a site for a temporary drop box to collect samples to be tested for CWD.  It will be located in the large parking lot on Blue Bell Road between the constable headquarters and the Exxon station at the corner of Blue Bell Road and Highway 105.  The site will open in late September, after the county fair, and close in mid-January.

The drop box will be open to any landowner who wishes to get a sample tested, but it is obligatory for landowners who harvest wildlife within the surveillance zone.