Deer with chronic wasting disease found in Shelby County

SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease was harvested in Shelby County, making the county a CWD-positive county.

Shelby County was a high-risk CWD county before this deer tested positive. The county joins nearby Fayette, Tipton and Hardeman counties as CWD-positive.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) said this will not change much in the county, as it was already part of Unit CWD with hunting regulations.

“The CWD-positive deer was a 2 ½-year-old buck harvested in the Shelby County portion of the Wolf River Wildlife Management Area,” said Chuck Yoest, CWD Coordinator for TWRA. “This comes as no surprise since CWD had already been detected nearby in neighboring Fayette County.”

Shelby County will have a slight change to carcass exportation restrictions.

Feeding of wildlife is prohibited in CWD-positive and high-risk counties.