Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal neurologic disease of cervids, including mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and elk (Cervus canadensis). CWD has not yet been detected in California’s mule deer and elk population. To monitor California’s herds, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has developed and implemented a CWD surveillance program. The program seeks to enlist the help of California’s deer hunters, meat processors, and taxidermists to monitor for CWD.This voluntary program encourages partners who harvest or handle a harvested deer from California to submit medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RPLN) for CWD testing.

The Wildlife Health Laboratory (WHL), formerly the Wildlife Investigations Laboratory, was established in 1941 as mandated by Fish and Wildlife Code Section 1008 to conduct wildlife disease investigations. The mission of the WHL is to investigate, monitor, and manage wildlife population health issues in California. WHL staff provides expertise, training, and technical assistance to agency partners and staff in addressing a variety of wildlife health issues, including population health, disease surveillance, biological sampling, genetics research, wildlife rehabilitation, and human-wildlife conflict.