The first presumptive detection of Chronic Wasting Disease has been found in Edgecombe County.
Officials with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said the positive result was confirmed in a 3 1/2-year-old male white-tailed deer harvested by a hunter in the eastern corner of the county. The nearest confirmed CWD case from this site is 92 miles away in Cumberland County.
The deer was harvested near the Pitt-Martin County line. If confirmed, this would be the 35th CWD-positive deer found in North Carolina since the disease was first detected in 2022.
The sample is being sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) for verification. Hunters in Edgecombe and surrounding counties are asked to submit deer for testing as part of ongoing surveillance efforts.
