ST. PAUL - Chronic wasting disease has been identified in a farmed deer herd north of Brainerd in Merrifield, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health reported Friday.
The herd of 33 mule deer and 100 white-tailed deer is registered with the Board of Animal Health. Two 2-year-old female deer were slaughtered on the farm and both tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The deer showed no clinical signs of illness.
The Board of Animal Health requires chronic wasting disease testing of all farmed deer or elk that die or are slaughtered and are more than 12 months of age. Routine tissue samples were collected at slaughter from the infected deer. Those samples were tested at the University of Minnesota's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and then forwarded to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for official confirmation. Those tests confirmed chronic wasting disease.
"The affected herd has been quarantined," said Dr. Paul Anderson, assistant director at the Board of Animal Health, in a news release. "At this point, our priority is making sure no deer leave or enter the farm while we work with the owner to determine the best course of action for the herd. We're also working closely with the Department of Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture as we develop plans."
"We hope the full extent of the infection is evaluated soon so overall disease prevalence can be determined for the remaining animals," said Dr. Lou Cornicelli, wildlife research manager for the DNR, in the release. "A full accounting of on-farm and movements of farmed animals will help inform DNR's overall response to the discovery."
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People who hunt near the infected farm should prepare for chronic wasting disease surveillance during the 2017 deer hunting season. The DNR's response plan, which establishes general procedures for wild deer surveillance if chronic wasting disease is detected in a farmed deer facility, is available online at www.mndnr.gov/cwdplan .
Chronic wasting disease is a disease of deer and elk and is caused by an abnormally shaped protein, a prion, which can damage brain and nerve tissue. The disease is most likely transmitted when infected deer and elk shed prions in saliva, feces, urine, and other fluids or tissues. There are no known treatments or vaccines and the disease is always fatal. There is no danger to other animal species and chronic wasting disease is not known to affect humans, though consuming infected meat is not advised.
Information about Minnesota's farmed deer and elk herds can be found on the Board of Animal Health website: https://www.bah.state.mn.us/deer-elk/ .
