Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in captive white-tailed deer in Macon County, Missouri last week. In 2010, another captive deer operation in Linn County, Missouri, run by the same group, was found to have CWD. Those deer were all killed and no deer at the facility have tested positive for CWD since.

The state’s CWD contingency plan, announced in 2003, has been activated in response to the recent discovery.

I was surprised not to find a press release about this from the Missouri Department of Conservation on its site, but here’s the press release from the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Most of the coverage I’ve seen so far merely reprints that press release.

For sample response plans, see this list of CWD policy resources from the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.

Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia have response plans on the list, but not Missouri. The top of the page has national and federal resources, so scroll down for state policies.

Wondering where CWD is now? Here’s a map from the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.

Photo: This white-tailed deer in Wisconsin has CWD. Photo Credit: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources