Texas CWD per Dr. Deer

[Dean Parisian]

From Dr. Deer. Dr. James Kroll of Texas.

I just received the CWD test data for the first half of 2024 for Texas. The breeder deer tested had a 0.81% apparent infection rate and the free-range deer 0.69%; hardly a rampantly occurring deer disease in anyone's objective book. CWD has been reported in Texas since 2012. Testing began in 2002, and since then 130 free range deer tested positive. Let's put all this into perspective. In the first half of 2024, for every 10,000 free range deer, that's about 70 deer. Thats only testing positive for CWD prions, not yet mortality. There are 54,000+ auto collisions annually in Texas, with high probability of at least one deer death per accident! The annual deer harvest in Texas in 2023-24 was 757,047! There are probably 6 million deer in Texas, and growing at an alarming rate, which negates concern for CWD decimating the herd after 12 years of known CWD occurrence!

 

[EastTNHunter]

What else would you expect from the guy? He's been eating out of the breeder deer industry's hand for years

 

[redblood]

I agree with both points. Yes Dr Deer is a tool and has profited immensely from the deer breeder industry. At the same point, the cure for CWD is worst than the disease. Killing all the deer to stop a disease that will kill a few deer in mindless!

 

[Patrick H]

I think from a statistical standpoint it would be better to look at the infection rate by county. I have not looked but suspect CWD is not throughout the entire state and the infection levels can vary significantly by county.