The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will host public meetings throughout northern and west-central Illinois to provide information on the status of chronic wasting disease, its effect on free-ranging deer populations and the department’s ongoing efforts to manage the disease.

Local county meetings

• Carroll County’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 25, at Ingersoll Learning Center, 7071 Riverview Road, Thomson.
• Lee County’s meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 29, at Winifred Knox Memorial Library, 112 S. Elm St., Franklin Grove.
• Ogle County’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at Oregon VFW Post 8739, 1310 W. Washington St., Oregon.

IDNR staff will be available to discuss current management strategies and answer questions about CWD. Landowners, hunters and concerned citizens are encouraged to attend. CWD remains an important issue and a priority in Illinois’ future deer management discussions.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that threatens the long-term health of white-tailed deer in Illinois. First documented in the state in 2002 near Roscoe, CWD has been detected in 25 counties across the northern edge and northeastern portions of Illinois, and as far south as west-central Illinois. Affected counties include Adams, Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, Marshall, McHenry, Ogle, Peoria, Putnam, Stephenson, Will and Winnebago.

CWD was detected in Adams, Marshall, Peoria, and Putnam counties in February 2025 following routine surveillance of hunter-harvested deer or animals exhibiting clinical symptoms consistent with disease infection. Adams County is the first documented case recorded outside of the leading edge of the CWD endemic region of northern Illinois.

Questions about the meetings, meetings in other counties or about CWD? Contact Chris Jacques, wildlife disease program manager, at 773-636-0819 or by email at chris.jacques@illinois.gov.