Deer at Monocacy National Battlefield, nearby parks test positive for chronic wasting disease

Gabrielle Lewis, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

White-tailed deer at multiple local parks — Monocacy and Antietam national battlefields and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia — have recently tested positive for a fatal neurological disease called chronic wasting disease.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease that impacts animals such as white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose.

In March, one deer at Monocacy National Battlefield and two at Antietam National Battlefield tested positive for CWD during white-tailed deer reduction operations and disease sampling, according to the National Park Service.

Earlier this month, two deer at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia’s Jefferson County, near the southwestern border of Frederick County, tested positive for CWD.

These results mark the first time the disease has been detected at these three parks. The deer that tested positive at the battlefields were the first detected at national parks in Maryland.

However, CWD has been present in the state since 2010, according to a National Park Service news release.

CWD is transmitted through contact between animals or contact with objects contaminated with the disease, including saliva, feces, urine and carcasses, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The illness isn’t known to infect humans or livestock. However, the National Park Service recommends not eating the venison or tissues of CWD-infected animals. All venison from the deer that tested positive was destroyed.

Symptoms of the disease include progressive weight loss, decreased social interaction, loss of awareness, not being scared of humans, excessive salivation, and increased drinking and urination.

The incubation period for the disease can range from 18 months to two years after infection.

The National Park Service recommends that anyone who sees sick or dead wildlife not touch the animal and notify an employee as soon as possible.

These parks and others in the region conduct deer-reducing operations to protect, preserve and restore native plants, forests and historic landscapes. Until this year, all testing results for CWD in the battlefields and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park were negative.