Minnesota DNR to continue CWD testing in southeastern Minnesota

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Minnesota DNR to continue CWD testing in southeastern Minnesota
(Released October 27, 2010)


Surveillance of hunter-harvested deer for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) will continue this deer season in an area of southern Minnesota near Pine Island where captive elk infected with the disease were discovered in 2009, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The captive elk were depopulated in 2009 and DNR conducted extensive testing for CWD in southeastern Minnesota wild deer during last fall’s firearms deer hunting season. Test results on 2,685 deer were negative.

To help ensure no wild deer were infected with CWD, DNR staff will again staff deer registration stations around the previously infected farm to sample deer for the disease. Lymph node tissue samples will be collected at eight deer registration stations and one meat processor near the Pine Island area.

Tissues will be tested for CWD, an animal disease that was discovered in Wisconsin in 2002. Registration stations will be staffed all four weekends during November

The DNR will be staffing registration stations during four weekends in November. With the assistance of University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine students, DNR staff will be examining deer at the following stations:

Red Wing - Four Seasons Sports
Lake City - Big Bear
Millville - Becklund’s Auto
Rochester - Gander Mountain
Rochester - Archery Headquarters
Pine Island - Greenway Coop
Zumbrota - Pellicci Ace Hardware
Kenyon - Kenyon Meats
Mantorville - Casey’s General Store.
Hunters who take deer in permit areas 233, 293, 341, 342, 343, and 344 should register those deer in person at one of these stations, which allows samples to be collected for CWD testing. All hunters who submit a deer for sampling will receive a cooperator patch and a chance to win a muzzleloader donated by the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association.

DNR will continue targeted surveillance, meaning it will investigate reports of live deer that appear to be sick and obtain samples if possible. The public is encouraged to report sick deer to their area wildlife office. Office locations are available online.

To date, CWD has not been found in a wild deer in Minnesota. More than 32,000 deer have been tested for CWD statewide since the disease was detected in Wisconsin in 2002.CWD is an infectious neurological disease that occurs in deer, elk and moose and belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Chronic wasting disease is progressively fatal and has no known immunity, vaccine or treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other public health officials have concluded there is no link between CWD and any neurological disease in humans. The DNR is undertaking this year’s effort because of its presence within the captive elk herd and the proximity of southeastern Minnesota to free-ranging deer in Wisconsin.