Remaining Deer Samples Negative for CWD

[HD]

February 18, 2011
Remaining Deer Samples Negative for CWD
The remaining 3,600 North Dakota deer samples that were tested for chronic wasting disease are negative, according to Dr. Dan Grove, wildlife veterinarian for the State Game and Fish Department.

In all, more than 4,200 targeted and hunter-harvested samples from 2010 were sent to a lab at Michigan State University. One mule deer taken last fall in unit 3F2 in western Grant County tested positive for CWD, the second positive sample taken from a North Dakota animal. The first was taken during the deer gun season in 2009, also from a mule deer in unit 3F2.

The hunter-harvested surveillance program annually collects samples from hunter-harvested deer in specific regions of the state. In addition to unit 3F2, samples during the 2010 deer gun season were collected from units in the eastern third of the state.

In addition to hunter-harvested deer, the Game and Fish Department has a targeted surveillance program that is an ongoing, year-round effort that tests animals found dead or sick.

Since the department’s sampling efforts began in 2002, more than 20,000 deer, elk and moose have tested negative for CWD.

CWD affects the nervous system of members of the deer family and is always fatal. Scientists have found no evidence that CWD can be transmitted naturally to humans or livestock.