No chronic wasting disease detected in SE Minnesota deer

(THE MED CITY BEAT) - Chronic wasting disease was not detected in any deer harvested in southeast Minnesota during the 2014 firearms season.

The discovery of the disease in a wild deer earlier this year in Allamakee County, Iowa, triggered a surveillance effort by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The Iowa county is located about 60 miles south of Rochester.

During the Minnesota firearms deer season, hunters voluntarily brought deer to be sampled for CWD at eight registration stations throughout deer permit areas 348 and 349, according to the DNR. In all, wildlife experts sampled 411 deer within the two permit areas.

DNR officials say the latest sampling effort suggests that CWD does not exist in Minnesota’s wild deer herd, or is at a level so low that it has not been detected during many years of surveillance.  

CWD has not been linked to human illness, but the Centers for Disease Control recommends humans not consume meat from CWD-positive animals.

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(Cover photo: Larry Smith / Creative Commons)