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Volume 32, Number 4—April 2026
Dispatch
Chronic Wasting Disease in Farmed Cervids, South Korea, 2001–2024
, and Hyun-Joo Sohn
Table 2
Surveillance results for CWD in farmed cervids, South Korea, 2001–2024*
| Stage† |
Farmed cervids |
Wild cervids‡ |
||||||||
| High-risk cervids |
Slaughtered cervids |
Total |
||||||||
| Found dead or showing clinical signs |
Culled from CWD-confirmed farms |
Culled from CWD-linked farms |
Total |
Routine surveillance |
Culled from CWD-linked farms |
Total |
||||
| Imported elk |
6/63 (9.5) |
5/279 (1.8) |
7/278 (2.5) |
18/620 (2.9) |
4/167 (2.4) |
1/31 (3.2) |
5/198 (2.5) |
23/818 (2.8) |
NA |
|
| Initial domestic transmission§ |
1/22 (4.5) |
8/34 (23.5) |
8/208 (3.8) |
17/264 (6.4) |
1/65 (1.5) |
1/102 (1.0) |
2/167 (1.2) |
19/431 (4.4) |
NA |
|
| Endemic |
47/128 (36.7) |
276/2,894 (9.5) |
62/988 (6.3) |
385/4,010 (9.6) |
2/126 (1.6) |
NA |
2/126 (1.6) |
387/4,136 (9.4) |
0/2,867 |
|
| Total | 54/213 (25.4) | 289/3,207 (9.0) | 77/1,474 (5.2) | 420/4,894 (8.6) | 7/358 (2.0) | 2/133 (1.5) | 9/491 (2.0) | 429/5,385 (8.0) | 0/2,867 | |
*Values are no. CWD-positive/no. tested (%). CWD, chronic wasting disease; NA, not applicable. †Imported elk stage was 2001–2005; initial domestic transmission was 2010; endemic stage was 2016–2024. ‡CWD surveillance of wild cervids in South Korea began in 2014. The data indicate the number of wild cervids tested during the period 2014−2024. Most (85.4%) tested wild cervids are Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus), which is the dominant wild cervid species on the mainland of South Korea. On Jeju Island, testing focused on Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus), the region’s resident species. §In 2010, 493 cervids culled from 14 farms as part of tuberculosis control measures were also tested for CWD; all were CWD-negative.