The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is temporarily suspending public meetings concerning chronic wasting disease, or CWD, as the agency works to revise its deer disease management strategy.
The decision follows IDNR’s announcement earlier this year that it would discontinue targeted deer removal, commonly known as sharpshooting, throughout Illinois.
The department says it will use the coming year to develop updated goals, objectives and disease surveillance strategies.
Public meetings, primarily held in northern and west-central Illinois, are expected to resume in the fall of 2027.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease affecting deer and elk. It was first detected in Illinois in 2002 in Boone County.
Since that time, nearly 200,000 wild deer have been tested statewide, with 3,410 testing positive.
During the most recent reporting period, from July 2025 through June 2026, 662 deer tested positive for CWD in 28 Illinois counties.
Among those counties was Effingham County, making the disease a concern for hunters in the broader southeastern Illinois region.
The department’s latest list of affected counties does not include Wayne, Edwards, White, Hamilton, Clay, Richland or Wabash counties.
Beginning this fall, IDNR will offer voluntary mail-in testing kits to hunters interested in having harvested adult deer tested for chronic wasting disease.
Hunters can request up to two kits at a time, with additional kits available if they harvest more deer. Kits will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
Requests can be submitted through the Hunt Illinois website or by contacting a local IDNR district wildlife biologist.
Additional information is available through the IDNR chronic wasting disease program. Questions may also be directed to Wildlife Disease Program Manager Chris Jacques at chris.jacques@illinois.gov.