DROP BOX LOCATION SELECTED FOR CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SAMPLES
Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday approved the placement of a drop box for chronic wasting disease (CWD) samples during the next hunting season.
The drop box will be on the east side of the Washington County Constables Office, 1405 East Blue Bell Road in Brenham. Setup will begin the week of September 23rd, after the county fair, and the box will be taken down the week of March 3, 2025.
CWD is a degenerative prion disease that affects the deer population. It erodes the victim’s neurological function, causing symptoms like weight loss, stumbling, salivating and an overall appearance of “wasting” away. It is ultimately fatal, and there is no treatment or vaccine.
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) Natural Resource Specialist Stephanie Damron said approximately 252 samples were collected in total during the past hunting season in Washington County.
Of those 252, there were 17 taken from the 2-mile surveillance zone established around the area of the first positive case confirmed in March 2023, located just north of Brenham with the airport being close to the center. Nine of the samples from the zone were hunter harvest, seven were roadkill, and one showed clinical signs, but none came back CWD-positive, so the only confirmed case remains the original one from March 2023.
When commissioners asked how long the testing would continue, TPWD Wildlife Health Specialist Bobby Allcorn said since CWD can be slow-moving, it will take multiple years of no positives before testing is no longer needed.