Testing for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is being conducted in two areas of Minnesota this fall during deer season. Testing is mandatory in the CWD management zone (deer permit area 602) and carcasses cannot be removed from the area until hunters receive a negative CWD test result. Testing in east-central Minnesota is a precautionary measure after CWD was discovered in a deer near Shell Lake, Wis.
Southeastern Minnesota |
East-Central Minnesota |
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 Southeast CWD Test Results |
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Registration StationsPermit Area 159 Permit Area 183 Permit Area 225 • Holiday Station, 1440 West Fourth St., Rush City map |
CWD Management Zone - Deer Permit Area 602 |
Extensive sampling of more than 2,300 deer during fall and winter 2011 in southeastern Minnesota did not detect a single case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
Test results lend confidence that DNR caught the disease on the front end of the infection. Since the discovery of CWD in a wild white-tailed deer in fall 2010, DNR has sampled 1,850 adult deer without finding another positive.
CWD tests were conducted on samples taken from 1,125 adult deer harvested in the CWD zone (deer permit area 602) during the hunting season. An additional 1,265 samples were obtained from deer areas surrounding the CWD zone.
Minnesota deer hunters who harvest a deer in permit areas 159, 183 and 225 of east-central Minnesota are encouraged to have their deer sampled for CWD during the firearm hunting season.
Due to the discovery of CWD near Shell Lake, Wis., the Minnesota DNR will be conducting CWD surveillance in those three permit areas along the Wisconsin border until 300 samples have been collected from each permit area. Although CWD has not been found in those areas, Minnesota's CWD management plan calls for surveillance when a new infection is discovered nearby.
Select registration stations will be staffed beginning on the opening weekend (Saturday to Monday) of the firearm season. Phone and Internet registration options for these areas will be deactivated on Friday, Nov. 2, and will remain off until the sampling goals are achieved. Deer must be brought to a registration station. Hunters are strongly encouraged to allow sampling of their deer.
"Working with hunters to sample the herd for evidence of CWD is our best opportunity for early detection," said Dave Johnson, DNR's Sandstone area assistant wildlife manager. "We will make the process as quick as possible to get hunters on their way."
A deer feeding ban remains in effect in Dodge, Goodhue, Olmsted, and Wabasha counties for the foreseeable future. 
The ban covers all of Dodge, Goodhue, Olmsted and Wabasha counties.
The ban will reduce the potential for the disease to spread from deer-to-deer by reducing the number of deer concentration sites. The disease can spread from one deer to another following nose-to-nose contact, contact with saliva or other body fluids. By eliminating deer feeding sites we are reducing the potential for the disease to spread.
Now that CWD has been discovered in the wild deer population, DNR will manage deer differently for the next three years at a minimum. The essence of management in this area includes:
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CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) naturally occurs in North American deer, moose and Rocky Mountain Elk. It belongs to a group of infectious diseases known as "transmissible spongiform encephalopathies" (TSEs). It is caused by an abnormal protein called a prion which affects the animal's brain and is invariably fatal. Usually, months to years pass from the time an animal is infected to when it shows signs of the disease. The disease is found in 14 other states and two Canadian provinces, including the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota. Typical signs of the disease include drooping head or ears, poor body condition, tremors, stumbling, increased salivation, difficulty swallowing, or excessive thirst or urination. The diagram to the right illustrates the most common sites where prions accumulate in infected cervids. |
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has confirmed that an adult female deer harvested during the 2010 hunting season has been diagnosed with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a brain and nervous system disorder found in deer, elk and moose. This is disappointing news but the DNR is well prepared to address it.
The discovery occurred the week of Jan. 10, 2011, during laboratory analysis of more than 500 samples (lymph nodes) taken from hunter-harvested deer taken within a 20-mile radius of Pine Island in southeastern Minnesota. Initial screening of all other samples is complete. The DNR collects and evaluates lymph nodes because CWD can be detected through microscopic analysis.
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the University of Minnesota's preliminary diagnosis of the single adult female white-tailed deer on Jan. 25, 2011.
If the preliminary finding is confirmed by NVSL, this will mark the first time CWD has been found in wild deer in Minnesota. Though the disease has been detected in Minnesota on four previous occasions since 2002, all of the instances involved "captive cervids", meaning domestic deer or elk confined to a fenced-in commercial operation.
At this point, no one knows. In fact, we may never know. What is known is that the "presumed positive" deer was harvested about three miles southwest of a former domestic elk farm near Pine Island. The farm's elk herd was depopulated after a seven-year-old female elk tested positive for CWD in January 2009. Three additional elk were found to be infected with CWD during the depopulation effort. The closest wild deer with CWD in Wisconsin is 150 miles from the location this CWD-suspect deer was harvested in Minnesota.
CWD is found in wild deer, elk or moose in 14 other states and two Canadian provinces, including the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota. For specifics, visit the CWD Alliance Website.
A map and list of states and counties with endemic areas where exportation of cervids is restricted is available from the Minnesota Board of Animal Health by clicking the Cervidae (Deer, Elk, Moose, Caribou, Reindeer) link.
The DNR has done much to prevent CWD from entering Minnesota's wild deer herd. For many years the agency has worked closely with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (the regulators of domestic deer and elk farms) on policies, procedures, and statutes to protect wild deer from coming into contact with commercially-raised elk and deer. The agency has also worked with the state Legislature to create animal transportation laws that minimize the risk of CWD from entering the state. For example, whole deer, elk, caribou or moose carcasses from other states or provinces may not be brought into Minnesota from areas known to have CWD in the wild.
The DNR has been actively on the lookout for CWD since 2002 when the disease was first found in a domestic elk farm in central Minnesota. The agency has been actively looking for the disease because an important management strategy is early detection. Since 2002, the DNR has tested more than 32,000 hunter-harvested or road-killed deer, 60 elk and and 90 moose in the name of early CWD detection. Until now, laboratory analysis had never found a wild deer "presumed positive" for CWD.
Yes. It is a logical place to look because it's an area where CWD was recently discovered. The DNR collected 515 deer lymph node samples during the past deer season. This followed the collection of 934 deer from the same area in 2009. All of these deer were taken within a 25-mile radius of Pine Island. The DNR obtained these samples from hunters who voluntarily allowed DNR staff, University of Minnesota veterinary students and other experts to extract the lymph nodes at deer registration stations. In 2008, the DNR tested the lymph nodes of 500 hunter-harvested deer along the Wisconsin border from Houston County to St. Croix State Park. In 2009, the agency tested a total of 2,685 deer taken in southeastern Minnesota.
DNR has implemented its CWD response plan. The critical first step was to identify the number and current distribution of deer in the Pine Island area. This was done using an aerial survey. Once that data was compiled, sampling to collect additional lymph nodes for testing was conducted during Winter 2011.
Working with landowners and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sharpshooters, DNR sampled 752 yearling or older deer and 428 fawns. Each was tested for CWD and all results were negative. Deer sampled were taken from within roughly a five-mile radius of where the infected deer was harvested in Fall 2010.
DNR also implemented a deer feeding ban in a four-county area of southeastern Minnesota, has restricted carcass movement out of the area and will sample all hunter harvested deer for CWD during this fall's hunting seasons.
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That's possible but it's premature to speculate. The only way to know if other deer have CWD is to continue doing surveillance. Collection of additional samples this winter will be done in a highly targeted way and only with permission of cooperating landowners.
Based on the fact that only one deer has tested positive for CWD among more than 500 samples, the rate of occurrence is likely low. Still, people with venison in their freezer from this area should know the following:
So, people with venison in their freezer that was harvested from this area will need to make decisions based on the information above. The Minnesota Department of Health – not the DNR – provides guidance to citizens on food consumption issues.
CWD causes a characteristic spongy degeneration of the brains of infected animals resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death. CWD belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Though many observers try to compare CWD with "mad cow disease", the diseases are distinctly different.
The disease agent is a prion, an abnormal form of cellular protein that is most commonly found in the central nervous system and in lymphoid tissue. The prion "infects" the host animal by promoting conversion of normal cellular protein to the abnormal form.
The origin of CWD is unknown, and it may never be possible to definitively determine how or when CWD arose. It was first recognized as a syndrome in captive mule deer held in wildlife research facilities in Colorado in the late 1960s, but it was not identified as a TSE until the 1970s. Computer modeling suggests the disease may have been present in free-ranging populations of mule deer for more than 40 years.
It is not known exactly how CWD is transmitted. The infectious agent may be passed in feces, urine or saliva. Transmission is thought to be lateral (from animal to animal). Although maternal transmission (from mother to fetus) may occur, it appears to be relatively unimportant in maintaining epidemics.
Because CWD infectious agents are extremely resistant in the environment, transmission may be both direct and indirect. Concentrating deer and elk in captivity or by artificial feeding probably increases the likelihood of both direct and indirect transmission between individuals. Contaminated pastures appear to have served as sources of infection in some CWD epidemics. The apparent persistence of the infectious agents in contaminated environments represents a significant obstacle to eradication of CWD from either captive or free-ranging cervid populations.
The movement of live animals is one of the greatest risk factors in spreading the disease into new areas. Natural movements of wild deer and elk contribute to the spread of the disease, and human-aided transportation of both captive and wild animals greatly exacerbates this risk factor.
CWD poses serious problems for wildlife managers, and the implications for free-ranging deer, elk and moose are significant:
A deer feeding ban covering Dodge, Goodhue, Olmsted and Wabasha counties became effective Monday, Feb. 14.
The ban will reduce the potential for the disease to spread from deer-to-deer by reducing the number of deer concentration sites. The disease can spread from one deer to another following nose-to-nose contact, contact with saliva or other body fluids. By eliminating deer feeding sites we are reducing the potential for the disease to spread.
The emergency rule makes it illegal to place or have out food capable of attracting wild deer. Those who feed birds or small mammals must do so in a manner that precludes deer access or place the food at least six feet above ground level.
Food placed as a result of normal agricultural practices is generally exempted from this rule; however, cattle operators are advised to take steps that minimize contact between deer and cattle.
Please download the rule 
to view the specific language. Once the rule goes into effect, official notice can be found here.
Methods and instructions to help landowners prevent wild deer from feeding on their property can be found here.
Field DressingImproper handling of the deer can contaminate the carcass with potentially harmful bacteria and compromise food safety and quality. By implementing a few precautionary measures during field dressing, the hunter can help ensure the final product is fit to consume.
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Carcass restrictions require that any deer older than one year harvested in any season (archery, firearm and muzzleloader) be tested and receive a CWD-negative test result before a hunter can remove the animal from the CWD management zone. Use the form below to check for your test results.
CWD test results are available within three business days for samples taken in deer area 602 only. Samples taken in the other deer areas will take five to seven business days.
Remember, export restrictions and mandatory testing only apply to deer area 602 so those samples are being prioritized so results are reported first. Deer taken in the other areas can be moved throughout the state so those results will take a few extra days.
The Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization state that there is no scientific evidence that CWD causes human Illness; however, precautions should be taken to minimize exposure.
Proper handling and refrigeration is necessary to prevent decomposition of the carcass and minimize the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. This will reduce the risk of food-borne illness due to consumption of contaminated meat.
Check your resultsCarcass restrictions require that any deer older than one year harvested in any season (archery, firearm and muzzleloader) be tested and receive a CWD-negative test result before a hunter can remove the animal from the CWD management zone. Use the form below to check for your test results. CWD test results are available within three business days for samples taken in deer area 602 only. Samples taken in the other deer areas will take five to seven business days. Remember, export restrictions and mandatory testing only apply to deer area 602 so those samples are being prioritized so results are reported first. Deer taken in the other areas can be moved throughout the state so those results will take a few extra days. |
Deer harvested in the CWD Management Zone (deer permit area 602) must register their deer in person at check stations located throughout the area.
Registration is necessary so the DNR can extract a lymph node tissue sample for CWD testing. For 2012, CWD testing will only be conducted in the CWD Management Zone; deer taken in adjacent permit areas will not be tested.
Hunters who harvest deer within the CWD management zone cannot remove the carcass from the zone until a CWD-negative test result is reported. Testing typically takes three business days to complete and results can be accessed by hunters online.
Some deer parts can be moved outside the deer permit area 602 without a negative CWD test result. These parts include:
Hunters planning to eventually transport a deer out of the CWD zone should plan ahead and secure a place to store their deer while awaiting test results. Some venison processors may not take deer until a CWD test is completed.
Erdman's County Market in Kasson and Buckridge Meats of Millville have offered to store deer carcasses for hunters awaiting CWD test results. Buckridge Meats will have a storage area at the Neptune Bar and Grill in Zumbro Falls. Individuals will need to discuss available space and charges with store management.
CWD stations within the management zone are located at Greenway Co-op, Pine Island; Archery Headquarters, Rochester; Gander Mountain, Rochester; Hardware Hank, Kasson; and Neptune Bar & Grill, Zumbro Falls. Check stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the entire 23 day season, which begins Saturday, Nov. 3, and concludes Sunday, Nov. 25.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an infectious neurological disease that occurs in North American deer (Odocoileus spp.), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus), and moose (Alces alces) and belongs to a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
The disease is progressively fatal and has no known immunity, vaccine or treatment. Since 2002, more than 32,000 hunter-harvested and 500 opportunistic or targeted wild deer have been tested for CWD in Minnesota, with no positive cases identified.
This plan establishes general procedures to be followed for managing CWD if it is found in wild deer and procedures for wild deer surveillance if CWD is detected in a captive cervid facility.
If CWD is detected in wild cervids in Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) has identified 4 primary goals of managing the disease:
Place the deer on its back and spread the hind legs. Support the carcass in this position by using rocks or sticks. All hunters should wear gloves!
Cut along the midline of the belly from the breastbone to the anus. Avoid cutting into the intestines and stomach by turning the knife blade up during the cutting process. Slowly remove the skin from the incision.
Cut through the sternum to open the body cavity surrounding the lungs and heart.
After opening the body cavity, reach inside and begin cutting the diaphragm, lungs, and heart away from the body wall. Remove the internal organs all in one step. Take care to avoid puncturing or tearing the stomach and intestines during this process.
To promote cooling of the carcass, place a stick between the ribs to prop open the body cavity and allow airflow.