EDGECOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is looking into a possible case of a contagious disease among deer in Edgecombe County.
N.C. Wildlife is reporting a potential case of Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, after a preliminary test result from a three-and-a-half-year-old male white-tailed deer came back positive.
Officials say the deer was harvested by a hunter in the eastern corner of the county, a few miles from the Pitt-Martin County line.
If confirmed as positive, the deer would be the 35th CWD-positive deer found in North Carolina since the initial detection of the disease in 2022.
The sample is currently being tested by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory to verify the results.
The closest confirmed location from this new suspected site is in Cumberland County, nearly 100 miles away, according to officials.
CWD is transmissible to other deer and spreads through infected body fluids, like saliva, urine, feces and the movement of infected deer carcasses and carcass parts.
Because deer may appear healthy during the early stages of infection, officials are stressing to hunters the importance of taking precautions when moving or disposing of deer carcasses.
N.C. Wildlife asks hunters to submit deer harvested in Edgecombe County and the surrounding areas for testing. They're also asked to keep the deer and its high-risk carcass parts in the county of origin.
All hunters are encouraged to follow these disposal methods for non-edible portions of carcasses:
Low-risk carcass parts, like boned-out meat, caped hides, antlers, cleaned jawbones, skulls and teeth, as well as finished taxidermy products, are safe to transport outside of Edgecombe County.
The Centers for Disease Control have not reported any cases of CWD infection in people.
N.C. Wildlife says, though there is no scientific evidence that CWD can infect humans, some animal studies have suggested that it poses a risk to certain types of non-human primates.
More information and updates regarding CWD in North Carolina can be found on N.C. Wildlife's website.