Chronic Wasting Disease Spreads in Minnesota, Two Deer Test Positive in New Areas

(KNSI) – Chronic wasting disease continues to spread in Minnesota after two deer tested positive for the deadly disease across two areas.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, one deer was shot in Deer Permit Area 266 near Hawley and the other was taken in DPA 701 near Greenfield. They join fourteen other areas around the state dealing with the sickness.

Following the discovery, the DNR will begin using its CWD response plan, which calls for three consecutive years of testing to help determine its prevalence in the area. Other steps could include carcass movement restrictions, a deer feeding ban and increased hunting opportunities with increased bag limits. The state’s game plan will take shape as we move closer to fall.

The positive results were discovered in voluntarily submitted tissue samples.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects cervids, which include white-tailed deer, moose and elk, and has no known cure. It has been found in more than two-thirds of the states in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, CWD has not been shown to infect humans, but it’s considered a theoretical risk.

___