LARAMIE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) announced on Monday that chronic wasting disease (CWD) was detected in an adult bull moose east of Laramie.
A member of the public reported the moose on Sept. 2, after observing the animal collapse suddenly and die. WGFD Veterinary Services performed a field necropsy, which revealed the animal’s poor body condition and a possible bacterial infection. The agency’s Health Laboratory and the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory later confirmed that the moose was positive for CWD. The animal was in Moose Hunt Area 45.
“Additional diagnostic tests are underway to learn more about the animal’s overall health before its death,” WGFD said in a Monday press release.
According to WGFD, this is only the second time that CWD has been detected in a free-ranging moose in Wyoming. The last documented case found in a moose occurred in 2008 in Moose Hunt Area 23 near Bedford.
“While CWD detections in moose are rare, the disease has been detected in deer and elk within the same geographic footprint,” WGFD said. “Moose Hunt Area 45 overlaps with Elk Hunt Area 6, where CWD was first detected in 1999, and Deer Hunt Area 60, where the disease was first documented in mule deer in 1998.”
Hunters who harvest a moose in Moose Hunt Area 45 are encouraged to have their animal tested for CWD.
