A confirmed case of Chronic Wasting Disease near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, has prompted the state Fish and Game Commission to approve a surveillance hunt for white-tailed deer in the immediate area.

The contagious, fatal neurological disease found in 35 states affects deer, elk and moose. CWD has not been known to spread to livestock. No vaccine, cure or approved live test exist.

Idaho and its neighboring states to the east, Washington, and four Canadian provinces including British Columbia have the disease. Washington’s first case was confirmed at the start of August in a female adult white-tailed deer found dead north of Spokane.

Idaho has two CWD management zones where testing is required and whole carcasses cannot be removed from the game management unit. In three other units, testing is mandatory.

The confirmed case near Bonners Ferry is the first in the northern panhandle, according to a Fish and Game news release. A landowner in early July found and reported the dead adult, female white-tailed deer.

The commission Aug. 15 approved the Aug. 24-Sept. 1 surveillance hunt. Commissioners approved 300 resident hunter tags and up to 200 for local landowners or their designees.

Male and female white-tailed deer can be harvested. The spinal column is to be left in the field to reduce the likelihood of disease spread. CWD testing is required at an approved site within 24 hours of harvest, the location of which will be reported.

The surveillance hunt aims to help game managers quickly develop localized estimates of disease prevalence and distribution, and “inform additional sampling efforts for the duration of the 2024 hunting season,” said Tricia Hebdon, Fish and Game assistant wildlife chief.

Commission member Don Ebert of Weippe asked why the surveillance hunt is needed before the regular hunting season opens. General archery season starts Aug. 30.

Other options included immediately setting up a CWD management zone, and conducting mandatory head checks during the season in the entire unit, where about 3,500 white-tailed deer are harvested annually, department director Jim Fredericks said.

Volunteer testing in the Delaware-sized unit has produced 145 to 214 samples since 2019 including 163 since September 2023.

“We don’t want to over-respond. We don’t want to under-respond,” Fredericks said. “What we really need now is some additional information. It makes very good sense to implement a surveillance hunt with a relatively small number of animals in the grand scheme of things — this is a high-density deer area — that would inform our next steps.”

Before general hunting season builds and most harvest occurs, typically in November, “we really need to have more information so that we can inform what types of restrictions or actions be taken at that time,” he said.