​Managing CWD in Pennsylvania is going to require a long-term commitment from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and its wildlife partners, including hunters and wildlife watchers. A CWD Response Plan developed in cooperation with stakeholders and experts from around the country,  outlines Pennsylvania's plan to meet that challenge going forward.

​In Pennsylvania, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been detected in several parts of the state. It was first detected in a captive facility in Disease Management Area (DMA) 1 in Adams County in 2012. DMA 1 has since been eliminated. CWD remains in Disease Management Areas 2, 3 and 4. DMA 2 covers all or portions of Indiana, Cambria, Clearfield, Centre, Union, Snyder, Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Somerset, Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, and Adams counties. DMA 3 covers portions of Jefferson, Clearfield, Indiana, Armstrong, and Clarion counties. And DMA 4 covers portions of Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties.

In addition, CWD has been detected in wild or captive deer and/or elk in many other states and provinces. A listing of states and provinces where CWD has been identified. View an interactive map of Pennsylvania DMAs.

You can help the Game Commission monitor and limit the impact of CWD. The threat of CWD is real. Your participation in testing efforts and in properly addressing high-risk parts is critical to manage this serious disease. Taking actions today may help protect deer and deer hunting into the future.

If you are hunting within a DMA, before you leave the DMA, deposit high-risk parts from your deer in a high-risk parts disposal dumpster, marked with "D" or "HD" on the Interactive map. High-risk parts include the head, lymph nodes, spleen, and spinal column. You may also dispose of any other deer parts not used in these dumpsters.

​Hunters should continue to enjoy deer and elk hunting in Pennsylvania. However, with the discovery of CWD, hunters should become familiar with the restrictions in the regulations and any Executive Order (PDF) for any designated Disease Management Area (DMA) such as prohibitions on feeding and rehabilitation of deer, the use of urine-based lures, and transportation out of any DMA of specific cervid carcass parts. Regulations prohibit the removal or export of any high-risk parts or materials from cervids harvested, taken, or killed, including by vehicular accident, within any Disease Management Area (DMA) established within the Commonwealth. Regulations also prohibit the importation of any high-risk parts or materials from cervids harvested, taken, or killed within areas where CWD has been detected.

​An interactive map shows DMA boundaries, as well as the location of head collection bins, high-risk parts dumpsters, cooperating taxidermists and deer processors and more. A printable list of those taxidermists and processors is available here.

For the 2021-22 hunting seasons, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is offering Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permits for nine Enhanced Surveillance Units. The permits allow hunters to take antlerless deer during the 2021-22 hunting seasons. Permits will become available when general licenses go on sale, June 14.

The purpose of these units is to increase harvest and surveillance in these areas. Successful hunters can submit the heads from those animals for CWD testing to assess the extent of the disease in these areas. The units are located around new CWD detections at the leading edge of disease expansion or in new areas far from other CWD detections.

Permits are available in the following CWD DMAP Units:

• DMAP Unit #3468: Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties.
• DMAP Unit #3934: Clearfield County.
• DMAP Unit #4311: Cambria County.
• DMAP Unit #4312: Indiana and Jefferson counties.
• DMAP Unit #4313: Indiana and Westmoreland counties.
• DMAP Unit #4314: Adams and Franklin counties.
• DMAP Unit #4315: Juniata, Mifflin, and Snyder counties.
• DMAP Unit #4316: Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, and Huntingdon counties
• DMAP Unit #4464: Warren County

Find participating DMAP properites using this form. Printable PDFs of each CWD DMAP unit are also available. 

​DMAP permits can be purchased in person at any license issuing agent or online at www.huntfish.pa.gov. Hunters just need to identify the unit they want to hunt by number.

​Hunters may use a CWD DMAP permit to harvest an antlerless deer in the unit for which it is issued in any open deer season. Although CWD DMAP permits can be used on public and private lands within the DMAP unit, hunters must still acquire permission from private landowners prior to hunting.

If you harvest a deer within a DMA, proceed with these options in handling high-risk parts:

• If your deer was harvested in a DMA, FREE TESTING is available. Deposit the head of your deer into any CWD Collection Container. The harvest tag must be filled out completely, legible, and physically attached to the deer's ear. The head must be placed in a plastic garbage bag and sealed before being placed in the collection bin. You will be notified of test results. Skulls and antlers will not be returned. 
• Take your deer to any processor or taxidermist located within the DMA. You may also take your deer to any processor, taxidermist or disposal site that is approved for that DMA. 
• If you live within the DMA where your deer was harvested, you may take the deer home to process. Double bag the high-risk parts and set them out for a commercial refuse pickup.
• You may bone out or quarter the deer at the site, leaving the high-risk parts, except the head, in the field. The head must be packed out with the meat but must not leave the DMA from which the animal was harvested. The head should be deposited in a FREE TESTING collection bin, or left in a high-risk parts dumpster, or double bagged and disposed of with commercial refuse within the DMA.

​An interactive map shows DMA boundaries, as well as the location of head collection bins, high-risk parts dumpsters, cooperating taxidermists and deer processors and more. A printable list of approved taxidermists and processors will also be available.

​High-risk parts include: the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and any lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft tissue is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord tissue; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides.

​Regulations prohibit the removal or export from any Disease Management Area (DMA) established within the Commonwealth any high-risk parts or materials resulting from cervids harvested, taken, or killed, including by vehicular accident, within any Disease Management Area. Regulations also prohibit the importation of any high-risk parts or materials from cervids harvested, taken, or killed in other areas where CWD has been detected.  Although CWD has been detected in both captive and free ranging deer, the Game Commission's goal continues to be to prevent further introductions of CWD into our state and to prevent spread within the state. The movement of high-risk carcass parts is a potential avenue through which CWD could be spread. Many states, including Pennsylvania, have developed regulations to prohibit the importation of high-risk carcass parts from states and provinces with CWD infected deer.

From where is the importation of high-risk parts prohibited? (Last update Oct. 2020)
The parts ban affects hunters who harvest deer, elk, moose, mule deer and other cervids in: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

​The following cervid parts may be safely transported into and within Pennsylvania: meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached; cleaned hides without the head; skull plates and/or antlers cleaned of all brain tissue; upper canine teeth without soft tissue; or finished taxidermy mounts. These parts may be moved out of Pennsylvania's Disease Management Areas.

FREE testing of deer taken in any DMA: If you harvest a deer in a Disease Management Area (DMA), please deposit the deer's head, with your completed harvest tag affixed to the deer's ear, at one of the head collection containers (marked as "H" or "HD" on the Interactive map). You will be notified of the test results. We are estimating that hunters should receive test results 10-21 days after submitting their head. Hunters can submit deer harvested out a DMA to the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostics Laboratory Systems (PDF) for testing.

How do I have my deer tested and keep the antlers?
Hunters who wish to keep the antlers of their buck can do so by capping the skull to remove the antlers and removing all visible brain material from the underside of the skull cap. The antlers and skull cap can then lawfully leave the DMA. Hunters can then double-bag the remaining parts of the head, with harvest tag attached, and place it in a head collection container provided by the Game Commission, within the DMA to be tested.

​FREE testing of deer taken in any DMA: If you harvest a deer in a Disease Management Area (DMA), please deposit the deer's head, with your completed harvest tag affixed to the deer's ear, at one of the head collection containers (marked as "H" or "HD" on the Interactive map). You will be notified of the test results. We are estimating that hunters should receive test results 10-21 days after submitting their head. Hunters can submit deer harvested out a DMA to the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostics Laboratory Systems (PDF) for testing.

1. Harvested deer can be taken to any taxidermists within the DMA where the deer was harvested or a cooperating taxidermist for that DMA. Finished taxidermy mounts may leave the DMA. Hunters can have their deer tested by double-bagging the remaining parts of the head, with harvest tag attached, and placing it in a head collection container provided by the Game Commission, within that DMA.
2. Hunters may transport cleaned capes and cleaned skull caps with antlers outside of the DMA to the taxidermist of their choice. Hunters may cap and cape their harvest themselves or take it to a processor/taxidermist within the DMA. Hunters can have their deer tested by double-bagging the remaining parts of the head, with harvest tag attached, and placing it in a head collection container provided by the Game Commission, within that DMA.

​Hunters can submit deer harvested out a DMA to the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostics Laboratory Systems (PDF) for testing.

​Use the CWD Results Lookup application..

​Hunters should immediately notify the nearest Game Commission region office if their harvested deer has evidence of being tagged; this could be actual ear tags, torn ears, or holes in the ears. This may indicate an escape from a captive cervid facility.

​Pennsylvanians who harvest deer, elk, mule deer or moose out-of-state likely can't bring them home without first removing the carcass parts with the highest risk of transmitting CWD. Regulations prohibit the importation of any high-risk parts or materials from cervids harvested, taken, or killed within areas where CWD has been detected. The Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance is also a reliable online resource. Hunters who are successful in those states and provinces from which the importation of high-risk parts into Pennsylvania is banned can import meat from any deer, elk, moose, mule deer or caribou, so long as the backbone is not present. Successful hunters also are allowed to bring back cleaned skull plates with attached antlers, if no visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; tanned hide or raw hide with no visible brain or spinal cord tissue present; capes, if no visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if no root structure or other soft tissue is present; and finished taxidermy mounts. Hunters who harvest cervids in a state or province where CWD is known to exist also should follow instructions from that state's wildlife agency on how and where to submit the appropriate samples to have their animal tested. If, after returning to Pennsylvania, a hunter is notified that his or her harvest tested positive for CWD, the hunter is encouraged to immediately contact the Game Commission region office that serves the county in which they reside for disposal recommendations and assistance.

(Last update Oct. 2020)
Regulations prohibit the removal or export from any Disease Management Area (DMA) established within the Commonwealth any high-risk parts or materials resulting from cervids harvested, taken, or killed, including by vehicular accident, within any Disease Management Area. Regulations also prohibit the importation of any high-risk parts or materials from cervids harvested, taken, or killed in other areas where CWD has been detected.  Although CWD has been detected in both captive and free ranging deer, the Game Commission's goal continues to be to prevent further introductions of CWD into our state and to prevent spread within the state. The movement of high-risk carcass parts is a potential avenue through which CWD could be spread. Many states, including Pennsylvania, have developed regulations to prohibit the importation of high-risk carcass parts from states and provinces with CWD infected deer.

The parts ban affects hunters who harvest deer, elk, moose, mule deer and other cervids in: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming; as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

​There is no evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans or traditional livestock. However, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that “To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in people. However, animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to some types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people. Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain.”

​The Centers for Disease Control recommends that people DO NOT eat meat from animals that test positive for CWD. From the CDC website: "Animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to some types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people. . . If CWD could spread to people, it would most likely be through eating of infected deer and elk…[T]o date, no CWD infections have been reported in people. . . If your animal tests positive for CWD, do not eat meat from that animal." More information and further recommendations can be found on the Center for Disease Control website.

​Hunters should only harvest animals that appear healthy and take reasonable precautions like wearing gloves while field dressing an animal and washing hands and equipment thoroughly when finished. Hunters in areas where CWD is known to exist should follow these guidelines to prevent the spread of the disease:

• Do not shoot, handle or consume an animal that appears sick.
• Wear rubber or nitrile gloves when field dressing.
• Bone-out the meat to remove high-risk parts such as brain, spinal cord, spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes.
• Avoid cutting into or through the backbone, either lengthwise or across the spine.
• Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.
• Thoroughly clean hands and processing tools with soap and hot water; spray all surfaces with 40% bleach (2 parts household bleach + 3 parts water) and allow to air dry; soak all knives and tools in 40% bleach for a minimum of five minutes. After removing knives and tools from bleach soak, allow to air dry. Once dry, all surfaces, knives, and tools can be rinsed with fresh water.
• Ask your deer processor to process your meat individually or process your own meat.
• Have your animal processed in the area of the state where it was harvested so high-risk body parts can be properly disposed of. It is illegal to take high-risk parts out of any Pennsylvania Disease Management Area.
• Do not import high-risk parts from areas where CWD is known to exist.
• Transport out of any Pennsylvania Disease Management Area, or bring back to Pennsylvania only permitted parts: meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached; cleaned hides without the head; skull plates and/or antlers cleaned of all brain tissue; upper canine teeth without soft tissue; or finished taxidermy mounts.
• Don't consume high-risk parts. Normal field-dressing, coupled with boning out a carcass, will remove most, if not all, high-risk parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining lymph nodes.

Have your animal tested, and do not consume meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease.

Simple Precautions When Pursuing or Handling Deer & Elk (CWDA)