About Chronic Wasting Disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal infectious disease that affects the nervous system in white-tailed deer. It is caused by misfolded prions that damage the brain and nervous system. Other similar prion diseases include mad cow disease and scrapie in sheep. CWD is contagious among deer through direct contact, contaminated environments, and bodily fluids. Prions shed by infectious animals can persist in the environment for many years.
CWD has been detected in free-ranging white-tailed deer in over 30 states including Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.
Indiana DNR staff collect tissue samples from wild deer year-round (hunter-harvested or reported sick/dead) to monitor the presence of CWD in Indiana.
Learn more about Indiana’s CWD surveillance history in the annual Indiana White-tailed Deer Report.
Indiana DNR’s Response Plan for CWD
Indiana DNR responds to a CWD detection when a wild deer tests positive for CWD within the state or within 10 miles outside the Indiana border. If the CWD positive case is found in or near an area that already has CWD, DNR will denote a CWD Positive Area and continue monitoring.
If the positive case is in an area where CWD is not already established, DNR will designate either a CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone or an 18-month CWD Management Zone
- What happens in the CWD Positive Area currently in LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, and DeKalb counties?
Indiana DNR defines CWD Positive Areas based on the location of a CWD positive deer detection. Depending on where a positive deer is found, a CWD Positive Area can include multiple counties after detection in a single deer. Positive Areas are applied at the county level and are permanent once designated.
Following the first CWD detection in Indiana in 2024, the state’s first CWD Positive Area was defined. This area includes the county in which the positive deer was detected (LaGrange) and the three adjacent counties (Steuben, Noble, and DeKalb). CWD positive deer HAVE NOT been detected in Steuben, Noble, or DeKalb counties as of February 2025.
- If a live, wild deer is found in a Positive Area, it cannot be moved outside of the CWD Positive Area for any reason, including rehabilitation (312 IAC 9-2-17).
Additional actions taken in the CWD Positive Area include:
- Modeling of CWD confirmed detections and expansion of CWD Positive Areas
- Provision of deer disease permits for cervid farms within CWD Positive Areas
- What happens in the CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone currently in Posey, Gibson, and Vanderburgh counties?
Indiana DNR defines a CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone as an area where a positive detection has occurred, CWD has not previously been detected nearby, AND where more information about CWD in the area is necessary to determine the best management actions. Following DNR’s positive detection in Posey County in February 2025, a CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone was created because the positive deer was an adult male that can wander a large area.
To identify where other CWD positive deer are located, additional sampling is required. Therefore, the CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone covers a larger area, and DNR will seek additional samples in that zone from hunters during the following hunting season.
The Enhanced Surveillance Zone will include Posey, Gibson, and Vanderburgh counties during the 2025-2026 deer hunting season.
The Enhanced Surveillance Zone goals are to:
- Help identify where the disease is located, and
- Assess the percentage of positive deer in the area
DNR will use the CWD Partner Incentive Program, CWD deer head drop-off coolers, and DNR staffed check stations to increase surveillance in a CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone. View the map and table below to to find these locations
This scenario does not include the immediate implementation of the CWD 18-month Management Zone or designation as a CWD Positive Area. Results from a CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone will inform future management or surveillance actions.
- If necessary in the future, what would happen in an 18-month CWD Management Zone?
Indiana DNR defines a CWD Management Zone as an area where a positive detection has occurred and CWD has not previously been detected nearby. Indiana currently does not have an active CWD Management Zone.
The Management Zone’s main goals are to:
- Help identify where the disease is
- Remove CWD-infected deer
- Decrease the number of deer in the zone with the goal of eliminating CWD from the area where it has not established.
In the Management Zone, DNR will:
- Temporarily ban feeding of deer to prevent artificial congregation
- Assess deer density
- Increase surveillance testing of deer with a goal of estimating apparent prevalence (the number of deer that have CWD out of the total number of deer tested) between 0.5% and 1%
- Offer incentive-based expanded deer seasons to help meet DNR’s sampling goals, including:
- A velvet hunt
- An extra buck privilege for every three antlerless deer submitted for testing
- A special late firearms season
- Harvest and test additional deer if sampling goals are not met from expanded seasons
After 18 months, if no more than two CWD positive deer are detected, the zone will return to a normal area. If two or more CWD positive deer are detected, the zone will be designated a CWD Positive Area.
- What restrictions are there concerning moving deer around the state?
Currently, Indiana Administrative Code prohibits the possession of fawns without a wildlife rehabilitation permit. Regulations on the movement of fawns to rehabilitation facilities will be implemented for counties contained within the CWD Positive Areas. The intention of these regulations will be to reduce human-assisted movement of CWD prions out of the infected area in potentially infected deer. Moving a fawn from an infected area to a rehabilitation facility outside of the CWD Positive Area could lead to the introduction of CWD to a new area of the state and must be avoided. Fawns may still be rehabilitated if they are not moved outside of the CWD Positive Area.
Human-aided movement of fawns can spread this fatal deer disease to new areas of the state. Therefore, the Indiana DNR has passed a rule prohibiting white-tailed deer from being moved from the CWD Positive Area (LaGrange, Steuben, DeKalb, and Noble counties) for any purpose.
This includes:- Deer rehabilitated in the positive area must be released in the positive area.
- Rehabilitators located outside the positive area may not rehabilitate deer from the positive area.
CWD Surveillance
Hunters may drop off deer heads for testing at participating Fish & Wildlife areas or State Fish Hatcheries throughout the deer hunting season. For a complete list of locations and hours of operation, please view the interactive map and list of properties. If you make an appointment during normal business hours, a biologist may collect the sample while you wait.
When testing your deer, you may be asked for your township. Find your township with this map.
Test results will be posted online for individual hunters to access when laboratory tests are complete. The DNR requests voluntary assistance from hunters in this effort. Participants will receive a metal tag reminiscent of historic confirmation tags as tokens of appreciation.
No fee will be charged for CWD testing of deer through this program.
View CWD Sampling Sites Map
2025-2026 CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone
If you hunt in a CWD Enhanced Surveillance Zone (Posey, Vanderburgh, and Gibson counties), there are multiple options for having your deer tested:
- Submit your deer’s head to a DNR drop-off cooler (all seasons). View video instructions. Find these locations on the interactive map and on the table below.
- Refer to the list of private businesses that are taking samples in this zone (all seasons). Find these locations on our interactive map.
- Bring your checked-in deer to a DNR-staffed check station at the below locations during open firearms weekend only (Nov. 15 and 16)
| County | Business Name | Type of Station | Address | Dates of Operation | Times of operation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibson | Rural King - Princeton | Check Station | 2007 W Broadway St, Princeton, IN 47670 | Nov. 15 and 16, 2025 | 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. CT |
| Posey | Hovey Lake Fish and Wildlife Area | Drop - off Cooler | 8401 Hwy 69 S Mount Vernon Indiana 47620 | All seasons | 24/7 - self service |
| Posey | Harmonie State Park | Drop - off Cooler | 3451 Harmonie State Park Rd, New Harmony, IN 47631 | All seasons | 24/7 - self service |
| Vanderburgh | Bucks and Jakes - Evansville | Check Station | 5525 Pearl Dr, Evansville, IN 47712 | Nov. 15 and 16, 2025 | 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. CT |
| Vanderburgh | Red Ghost Gun Shop | Check Station | 9540 Big Cynthiana Rd, Evansville, IN 47720 | Nov. 15 and 16, 2025 | 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. CT |
| Warrick | Bucks and Jakes - Booneville | Check Station | 3655 IN-62, Boonville, IN 47601 | Nov. 15 and 16, 2025 | 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. CT |
Carcass Transportation
Out-of-state deer hunters should follow carcass transportation regulations for their home state and carcass transportation regulations for the state in which they are hunting.
Import restrictions governing carcasses in Indiana
More Information
If you have any questions regarding CWD or other diseases in wild deer, contact the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish & Wildlife at 844-803-0002 or a DNR Fish & Wildlife health biologist in your region.
You can also find up-to-date CWD news on the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website.
FAQs
- What are the signs of CWD?
People rarely see deer exhibiting signs of CWD. Because of the disease’s slow progression, infected deer are often killed by predators, vehicles, or other diseases before signs are recognizable. In advanced stages, signs can include drastic weight loss, changes in behaviors, difficulty walking/standing, loss of coordination, drooling/excessive salivation, worsening emaciation, excessive thirst or urination, and weakness over time.
- Why is DNR testing for CWD?
Before 2024, Indiana DNR was testing Indiana’s deer as a precautionary measure, due to CWD-positive wild deer in bordering states. In April 2024, CWD was detected in an Indiana deer for the first time. As a result, Indiana DNR will continue testing for CWD to monitor spread or identify new areas.
- How are deer tested for CWD?
The retropharyngeal lymph nodes, located near the windpipe, are removed from the neck and sent for testing to an approved diagnostic lab. Here, they will be examined for evidence of CWD.
- Will I be notified of my CWD test results?
Yes. Hunters can view their test results by clicking on the link “View CWD test results here” at the top of this webpage. The deer’s confirmation number is needed to check results. Final test results may take eight to 12 weeks to appear online. If a deer tests positive for CWD, DNR will notify the hunter directly, using the contact information provided during sample collection.
- Where can hunters have deer tested?
People can bring deer to participating Fish & Wildlife areas or State Fish Hatcheries by appointment to have their deer sampled during the hunting season, or hunters can drop off the deer head in a cooler outside the property office. View an interactive map of all CWD sampling locations.
- Am I required to turn over a sample of my deer?
No. Participation in the Indiana CWD monitoring program is voluntary.
- How can I tell if the deer I harvested has CWD?
There is no way to reliably tell if a deer is infected with CWD without laboratory testing. DNR officials recommend that hunters not process or consume any deer that is obviously ill or emaciated.
- Are there other options to get deer tested for CWD?
People who would like to have their deer sampled for CWD but do not wish to visit a Fish & Wildlife Area or State Fish Hatchery may submit samples directly to the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) at Purdue University for a fee. More information and submission forms are available on the ADDL website.
- What precautions should people take to prevent the spread of CWD?
Landowners and hunters can reduce the risk of CWD becoming established in a given area by burying carcasses or taking them to a landfill, opting for synthetic based lures instead of natural urine-based lures, eliminating deer feeding, sampling and testing all harvested deer, and reducing the number of deer to make the herd more resilient to CWD infection.
- What measures are being taken to decrease the number of deer infected with CWD in wild populations? Are there any guidelines in place to manage CWD?
Indiana DNR’s response plan is based on the latest scientific information about the effectiveness and costs of CWD management options. Currently, there are no management actions that have been shown to cure deer of CWD, prevent deer from getting CWD, stop or significantly slow the spread of CWD, or eradicate it from the deer herd. Therefore, our plan focuses on monitoring the spread of the disease to inform hunters and enable Hoosiers to live with the presence of this disease in deer.
- What are the long-term effects of CWD on deer and the landscape?
The long-term effects of CWD are currently unknown, but researchers are investigating the effects of this disease on deer populations as it unfolds.
- What should I do if I encounter an animal suspected of having CWD?
If you see a deer showing signs of CWD, report it using our online reporting tool at on.IN.gov/sickwildlife or call the Deer Disease Hotline at 844-803-0002.
- Are there any treatments for CWD?
Despite considerable ongoing research, there is no effective cure or vaccine. CWD is fatal to infected deer.
- How can I safely consume deer meat in areas affected by CWD?
Test your harvested deer for CWD. If the deer tests positive for CWD, DNR recommends not consuming it. See the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center for more information regarding human health concerns.
For questions related to human health, call the Indiana State Department of Health, 317-233-1325.
- What should I do about deer meat already in my freezer that I haven’t tested?
It is at the hunter’s discretion to decide whether to consume an untested deer. Testing all deer intended for consumption in CWD Positive Areas is advised. If your deer tests positive for CWD, Indiana DNR will contact you using the contact information provided during sample collection.
- What research is being done to better understand and combat CWD and develop effective management strategies?
Scientists in the U.S. have formed a multi-state interdisciplinary CWD Research Consortium, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This research aims to understand disease transmission, improve diagnostic testing, evaluate management strategies, and enhance social science around CWD.
- Can domestic animals be infected with CWD?
CWD does not pose a threat to domestic or farm animals, like dogs, cats, goats, cows, chickens, etc. CWD is only known to infect mammals in the deer family like white-tailed deer, moose, and elk. For more information about domestic animal health, contact your veterinarian.