DNR: Chronic Wasting Disease Found In Deer Near Bemidji

(KNSI) – A deer shot by hunters in northern Minnesota has tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says a preliminary test found CWD in the white-tailed deer about ten miles south of Bemidji. The buck was taken during the opening weekend of the firearms season. If the final test results, which are expected later this week, confirm the deer had CWD, it will mark the first time a deer with CWD has been found in that area. The DNR will then initiate its response plan, which may include late or special hunting seasons.

The DNR says starting now, it will make self-service sampling stations available in that deer permit zone. Information on self-service sampling locations in the Bemidji area will be available on the DNR website or by calling the DNR’s Information Center at 888-646-6367. The firearms deer hunting season ends on Sunday.

CWD is a neurological disease that remains relatively rare in Minnesota but is a concern because it is easily transmissible between deer and is always fatal. Since surveillance of wild deer began in Minnesota in 2002, 168 cases of CWD in the wild population have been documented, most of them in the southeastern part of the state.

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