To strengthen surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), Cherokee Nation has teamed up with the USDA and APHIS to conduct testing on deer harvested during the Cherokee Nation Controlled Hunts in Sequoyah County. This initiative serves as a pilot program aimed at beginning CWD surveillance, with plans to expand efforts across the entire Cherokee Nation Reservation. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that impacts cervids, including the white-tailed deer native to Oklahoma.

For more information about CWD and its impacts on wildlife, please visit https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/cervid/chronic-wasting