Positive CWD test on Minnesota deer leads to management changes.

(KNSI) – A newly discovered instance of chronic wasting disease in the Brainerd Lakes area will result in three more years of sampling and other disease management efforts for that area.

One of the 1,234 deer that hunters harvested in deer permit area 604 (Brainerd North to Pine River and East to Aitkin) tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. The disease had not been found in that area since a wild doe tested positive in 2019. As a result, CWD management measures will remain in place through at least the fall of 2024.

In other DNR News:

MN deer test positive for CWD

Minnesota’s deer feeding ban will expand on Thursday, Dec. 30, to include 44 of Minnesota’s 87 counties.

According to a press release from the Minnesota DNR, the discovery of a CWD-infected wild deer near Climax along the Minnesota-North Dakota border adds Clearwater, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk and Red Lake counties to the list of counties where deer feeding and the use of attractants such as salt, minerals and urine is not allowed.

Counties already part of the feeding and attractant ban are Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Mower, Olmsted, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Steele, Todd, Wabasha, Wadena, Washington and Winona.

Detection of CWD on a deer farm in Beltrami County adds Beltrami, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods and Roseau counties to the list of counties where deer feeding is not allowed. Deer feed includes grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, hay and other food that is capable of attracting or enticing deer.

Counties already part of the deer feeding ban are Carlton, Chisago, Douglas, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Pope, and Stearns.

Feeding and attractant often cause deer to concentrate in an area, increasing the risk of deer-to-deer transmission.

Preliminary fall sampling results:

Southeast: CWD testing of 4,705 deer revealed 17 new cases of CWD. All deer that tested positive were harvested in locations near areas where the disease was previously detected. Despite the new discoveries, CWD prevalence remains steady and continues to be low – less than 1% in both areas where the disease appears to be persisting in the wild deer population.

North central (Brainerd Lakes area): Of the 1,234 deer tested so far this fall, a single 1½-year-old male tested positive. The infected deer was harvested about 8 miles from the location where the first wild infected deer was detected. Since 2019, this is the only deer that tested positive from all 6,107 deer sampled in this zone.

South metro: Testing detected CWD in two of the 1,063 deer sampled. One case was in the northwestern corner of permit area 605. The other was near locations where infected deer were previously detected.

East central: No CWD detected in the 1,369 deer tested.

West central: No CWD detected in the 369 deer tested.

Northwest: No CWD detected in the 1,782 deer tested.

Climax area: No CWD detected in the 65 deer tested.

___