Deer With Chronic Wasting Disease Is First Case In This MD County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Chronic wasting disease continues to spread across Maryland with reports showing it's now present in Howard County.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported this week that 62 white-tailed deer sampled in 2024 tested positive for chronic wasting disease, a neurological disease found in deer, elk and moose. Of the positive samples, all but one came from within the existing chronic wasting disease management area, which included Allegany (34), Baltimore (0), Carroll (0), Frederick (7), Montgomery (3) and Washington (17) counties. Chronic wasting disease was detected for the first time in one deer sampled from Howard County.

The continued spread of CWD across the state doesn't necessarily come as a surprise to DNR experts.

Jonathan Trudeau, game mammal section leader for the Maryland Department of Natural Resource's Wildlife & Heritage Service, told Patch that the Maryland DNR has seen a similar geographic spread of CWD in neighboring states.

"Additionally, we have similar apparent prevalence rates (percent of tested deer testing positive for CWD) when looking at neighboring counties," Trudea told Patch. "We were not surprised to find CWD in Howard since it was detected in Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick and Montgomery counties all within the past two years."

Chronic wasting disease has not been detected in humans, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Maryland DNR recommend people do not eat infected venison and to "dispose of it in an appropriate manner (lined landfill or incineration)."

"For hunters, it means any deer harvested within the county must stay within the county, go to a CWD-certified processor or taxidermist, or be completely deboned and have no neurological tissue present," Trudea told Patch.

According to the CDC, chronic wasting disease is a type of prion disease. Prions are proteins that are normally found in the body. In rare cases, the proteins misfold, causing serious symptoms in the animal or person affected. Once a person or animal gets sick, the disease moves to the brain and spine and eventually leads to death. Scientists believe CWD proteins (prions) spread between animals through body fluids like feces, saliva, blood or urine. This can happen either through direct contact or indirectly through contamination of soil, food or water.

In response to finding a positive sample in Howard County, the chronic wasting disease management area in Maryland has been expanded in 2025 to include all of Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and Washington counties.

The Maryland DNR conducts annual surveillance and works with neighboring states to monitor chronic wasting disease in the deer population. Management areas are established to help keep hunters informed, regulate how deer carcasses can be transported and to slow the spread of the disease.

“Unfortunately, chronic wasting disease continues to spread nationally, regionally and within the state of Maryland,” Maryland DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said in a news release. “As the disease spreads within Maryland, we will continue to monitor it closely to provide the public with reliable information and manage the impact on our deer herd.”

Maryland’s chronic wasting disease surveillance program began in 1999 and to date, more than 15,706 deer have been tested. A total of 1,312 samples from 2024 were submitted for laboratory testing.

Chronic wasting disease was first confirmed in Maryland in February 2011. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia have all documented the disease in the region. The latest findings bring the number of positive cases in Maryland to 285. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Maryland is one of 36 states and 4 Canadian provinces with chronic wasting disease documented in free-ranging cervids in North America.

To find more information about chronic wasting disease in Maryland, visit the Maryland Department of Natural Resources website.

Image courtesy of the Maryland DNR