CWD turns up in new elk hunt area near Cody

The original story by Floyd Whiting for Sheridan Media.

Chronic wasting disease has been confirmed for the first time in Elk Hunt Area 61 in the Cody Region, Wyoming Game and Fish says. The positive case was found in a dead cow elk from the area.

Area 61 sits next to several hunt areas where CWD is already established — 58 (2023), 59 (2022), 52 (2025), and 66 (2018) — and is part of the Cody Elk Herd, where the disease first showed up in 2018. Game and Fish announces new detections whenever CWD reaches a hunt area for the first time.

CWD is always fatal to infected deer, elk, and moose. The agency says long-term monitoring helps gauge impacts on herds and guide future management. Hunters can help by submitting samples for free CWD testing, especially in priority or mandatory testing areas.

Details on how to provide samples, maps of endemic zones, and disease info are available on Game and Fish’s CWD webpage. If you spot an animal that looks sick or injured, contact your nearest Game and Fish office.