The following is a news release from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Photo: Envato Elements

IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho State Department of Agriculture received confirmation of Chronic Wasting Disease following testing of an adult domestic cow elk that died at a captive facility in Jefferson County. This detection is the second case of CWD identified in a captive elk in Idaho.

This case of CWD in Idaho has no association with the CWD-positive captive bull elk identified in Madison County in December 2024. Idaho requires domestic elk facilities to submit all inventory and disease surveillance data to ISDA at the end of each calendar year, which correlates to the close timing of the two cases.

The infected animal was located on a captive elk ranch that had been under enhanced CWD surveillance protocols, which require mandatory 100% testing of all on-facility cervidae deaths. Enhanced CWD surveillance protocols were implemented when the facility imported shipments of domestic elk in 2023 from a captive facility that was located within 25 miles of a confirmed case of CWD in wild elk. All remaining elk that arrived in the 2023 shipment are alive and will remain under quarantine.

The facility had been in compliance with CWD testing requirements. Following the positive detection, ISDA issued a quarantine of all remaining elk on the facility to restrict further movement of the CWD-exposed animals.

CWD was first detected in wild deer in Idaho in 2021 and the following year in wild elk. CWD is a rare disease affecting the brains of mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, elk, moose and reindeer. The disease belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). There is no known cure for TSEs, and they always are fatal in susceptible host species. No CWD infections in people have been reported. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends that people do not eat meat from CWD affected animals.

The ISDA regulates all captive cervid farms for recordkeeping, disease testing, movement and permit requirements. The ISDA has notified the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and will move forward working with the affected facility pursuant to Idaho’s restrictions.

The US Forest Service released the final record of decision for Perpetua’s Stibnite project – essentially the mine’s permit – after an eight-year review process, according to documents published on the agency’s website.

Perpetua’s mine will supply more than 35 per cent of America’s annual antimony needs once it opens by 2028 and produce 12,800kg (450,000 ounces) of gold each year, a dual revenue stream expected to keep the project financially afloat regardless of any steps Beijing may take to sway markets.

For example, Jervois Global, the owner of an Idaho mine that produces only cobalt, declared bankruptcy on Thursday after Chinese miners aggressively boosted production of that metal in a bid for market share.

Shares in Idaho-based Perpetua gained 9.1 per cent in after-hours trading after Reuters reported the permit decision earlier on Friday.

BOISE, Idaho — A second case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been identified in a deceased cow elk from a domestic herd reports the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).

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The cow elk in question died in captivity in Jefferson County. The ranch on which the elk died was under enhanced CWD protocols before the disease emerged in the herd. According to the ISDA, this death is not connected to the captive bull elk with CWD in Madison County. By law, all domestic elk facilities must report any disease-related deaths to the ISDA each year.

The ISDA has since ordered a quarantine of the remaining elk on the property to halt further spread. The first case of CWD in Idaho was in 2021 when they found the disease in a deer. The disease was discovered in a wild elk the following year.

CWD is almost always deadly however, it’s never been identified in humans. The USDA recommends against eating any meat previously affected by the disease.