Chronic Wasting Disease

CWD Herd Certification Program (HCP) is a voluntary program of surveillance and related actions designed to determine the CWD status of farmed or captive deer and elk herds. Herds who complete five years of compliant participation in the program with no evidence of CWD will be designated as Certified. Herds start at 1st year status, and advance to the next level annually. After five consecutive years on the HCP, a Certified status is achieved. Participants in the CWD Herd Certification Program must:

Immediately report any cervid showing signs consistent with CWD (such as staggering, drooling, wasting, or unusual behavior) to the Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services (BAHDS);
Test all CWD susceptible species, 12 months of age or older, that die for any reason (including slaughter/harvest). Submit the obex and medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes in formalin within 30 days or the whole carcass or head within three days of death;
Apply two forms of identification to all cervids 12 months of age and older. One must be an official identification while the other can be a farm tag as long as it is unique to the animal within the herd;
Complete official movement documents within 10 days of movement for animals leaving or entering the herd, including those that have died, escaped, were stolen, or are wild cervid entries;
Submit an inventory annually showing additions/deletions and the sources or destinations of each, including a current inventory of animals in the herd;
Provide an inventory verification performed by a USDA Category II accredited veterinarian either by visual verification of one form of identification every 12 months (at least one form of ID must be legible from a distance) or hands-on verification of both forms of identification every 36 months;
Document additions to the herd obtained from other HCP herds who are from an equal or higher status level herd;
Report untestable cervid mortalities and escapes immediately;
Submit to annual inspections performed by Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture officials;
Maintain a fence at a minimum height of 8 feet (10 feet is recommended); and
Obtain required permits in advance of any cervids imported from out of state.

CWD Herd Monitored Program (HMP) is a mandatory program of surveillance and related actions designed to monitor farmed or captive deer and elk herds for CWD. HMP requirements differ from the HCP and a Certified status cannot be achieved with this HMP program. HMP participants must:

Immediately report any cervid showing signs consistent with CWD (such as staggering, drooling, wasting, or unusual behavior) to BAHDS;
Test half (50%) of all CWD susceptible species, 12 months of age or older, that die for any reason (including slaughter/harvest). Submit the obex and medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes in formalin within 30 days or the whole carcass or head within 3 days of death;
Provide official identification for all samples submitted for CWD testing and all CWD susceptible species moved to another premises;
Complete official movement documents within 10 days of movement for animals entering the herd from HCP herds only;
Submit an inventory annually showing additions/deletions and the sources or destinations of each, plus an estimate of the total number of animals in the herd;
Report untestable cervid mortalities and escapes immediately;
Inspections are done initially and thereafter at the discretion of PDA officials;
Maintain a fence at a minimum height of 8 feet (10 feet is recommended); and
Restrict cervid movements to within Pennsylvania.

Are you curious about farmed cervids and CWD? Visit our new, FREE online courses – one for veterinarians and one for cervid producers - to learn more about CWD and farmed cervids, USDA’s role in controlling the spread of CWD, and details about participating in our state’s Herd Certification Program. Veterinarians and veterinary technicians can earn 3 credits of RACE-approved continuing education. Access these courses today at Introduction to Farmed Cervid CWD Programs.