"Texas Breeder Deer May Have Spread Brain Disease Into The Wild"

"Officials are struggling to locate deer sold from facilities infected with chronic wasting disease."

"AUSTIN, Texas — State wildlife officials are struggling to trace and halt the spread of deer infected with a contagious brain disease after breeders sold potentially infected animals to hundreds of buyers and released them on game ranches across the state.

Deer at three breeding facilities tested positive for chronic wasting disease in March. Two sites are in the county of Uvalde, west of San Antonio, and owned by the same breeder, while the third is in Hunt County, outside Dallas. Two more facilities that received deer from the Uvalde sites have had positive cases since then, bringing the total of known infected deer to 10 so far.

Officials don’t know how many infected animals the breeders might have sold. Deer breeding is a major business in Texas, where customers will often pay private ranches enclosed by high fencing $10,000 or more to hunt bucks created with the help of artificial insemination, captive rearing and supplemental feed."

Roque Planas reports for HuffPost June 1, 2021.

Source: HuffPost, 06/03/2021