What are the symptoms of CWD in deer?
Late-stage CWD symptoms include drastic weight loss, drooling, listlessness, loss of fear of humans, repetitive walking patterns, drooping ears, and unsteady gait. Early infection shows no visible symptoms — deer can shed prions for 18+ months before any outward sign appears, which is why test-and-cull programs depend on lab testing rather than visual identification.
If you encounter a deer in the woods showing these symptoms, do not approach or attempt to harvest it. Report it immediately to your state wildlife agency — most have rapid-response protocols for suspected CWD cases.
Any harvested deer in a CWD zone should be tested regardless of how healthy it looked. Visibly healthy deer routinely test positive in the early/middle stages of infection. See state disease risk pages for testing programs.