Illinois launches notification system for deer disease testing
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday launched an automated notification system to streamline how hunters receive chronic wasting disease test results during the 2025-2026 deer-hunting season.
The new tool allows hunters to receive test results directly by text and email. Data gathered by the state helps wildlife officials track the spread of the disease, part of the state’s efforts to monitor and manage a fatal neurological disease that affects deer and elk. There is no currently effective treatment or vaccine to combat chronic wasting disease.
After the first case of chronic wasting disease was discovered in Illinois in 2002, the Department of Natural Resources started a “targeted surveillance program” track it in wild deer, as proposed by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, a research arm at the University of Georgia.
Since its discovery, the disease has been found in 2,748 of the 185,896 deer tested statewide, according to IDNR’s Wildlife Disease Program. From 2024-2025, the department identified 539 CWD-positive deer.
Hunters who provide a mobile number with their CWD samples and have a valid email linked to their ExploreMoreIL accounts will automatically be notified when results are available. When deer test positive, hunters receive a link to an interactive map to verify the location of their kills. Those who fail to confirm location details within 15 days could become ineligible for complimentary replacement tags the following season.
CWD has been found in 36 states — including California, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming — according to the Geological Survey, a federal agency that partners with states, provides scientific guidance, conducts research and develops management recommendations.
Many have implemented their own programs to track the disease. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife detected CWD for the first time in state’s deer and elk population in 2022. It encourages hunters to participate in wildlife mortality reporting.
