Authorities have discovered chronic wasting disease in the Texas panhandle for the first time.
This is some bad news for the Lone Star State. Someone recently found a CWD-positive deer between Dalhart and Hartley on U.S. Highway 87, and Texas Parks and Wildlife confirmed it.
Unfortunately, it's the first discovery of a Texas panhandle deer with the deadly neurological disease.
"The roadkill was found along the border between the current CWD Containment Zone and Surveillance Zone, and as a result will likely necessitate a precautionary expansion of the Containment Zone," TPWD State Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Bob Dittmar said in a press release.
The good news is he doesn't believe there is a need to expand that surveillance zone right now.
While the discovery is the first whitetail found with CWD in the panhandle, it's not the first case of the disease there. Authorities confirmed a CWD-positive mule deer in 2015.
Texas has been pretty fortunate so far in CWD discoveries. The state as a whole didn't detect its first CWD-positive deer until 2012.
According to the TPWD website, captive deer breeding facilities account for most of the majority of the CWD discoveries in the Lone Star State.
With this new discovery, TPWD plans to present a proposal to expand the containment zone during the upcoming TPW Commission's meeting Jan. 24.
The good news is there won't be any new requirements for hunters or landowners unless they're moving live deer.
We will keep an eye on this story and bring you more information as it comes available.
NEXT: ANN ARBOR DEER CULL PROTESTERS TRYING TO USE HOMELESS MAN'S PRESENCE TO STOP THE CULL
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