DATCP: Second CWD-positive deer found in Portage County herd killed for testing

Contact: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130

MADISON – A second white-tailed deer has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, from a herd of deer that were euthanized in November on a Portage County hunting preserve.

The first CWD-positive deer, a 7½-year-old doe, was discovered during routine testing after it was shot in September. That discovery led to destroying the herd so the rest of the deer could be tested. The second positive deer is a 3½-year-old doe.

Wildlife specialists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services shot 64 deer at Alligator Creek Whitetails LLC near Junction City, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 12, and finishing Tuesday, Nov. 18. Because the hunting preserve is made up of 119 acres of open, wooded, and tall-grass marsh lands, the shooters returned after snow fell to check for tracks to see whether any deer remained. At that time, they shot two more deer. Those CWD test results are not available yet.

The National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the positive result after initial screening tests at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Madison.

The CWD-positive deer had been born on the property and did not have ties to any other deer farm. The preserve was placed under quarantine immediately when the first positive test result was reported Oct. 9 to the state veterinarian’s office. A quarantine means that no live deer could be moved onto or off the premises.

Areas of heavy deer traffic on the preserve will have the top soil removed and replaced to reduce the risk of contamination. Stocking deer or elk on the property is prohibited for five years, and fences must be maintained during that time to prevent free-ranging deer from entering. The herd owner will receive state and federal indemnities that pay a portion of the appraised value of the deer.

This was the first new CWD-infected herd on a Wisconsin farm since January 2005. To date, 98 farm-raised animals in Wisconsin have tested positive for CWD, including 82 on a separate Portage County operation. One of the infected animals was an elk; the rest have been white-tailed deer. More than 22,500 farm-raised deer in Wisconsin have been tested for CWD.

Chronic wasting disease is a disease that is known to affect deer, elk and moose. Prions – a particular type of protein in the brain – become malformed and create microscopic holes in the brain. The disease is always fatal. Scientists have not determined exactly what causes the malformed prions or how the disease is transmitted, but one means of transmission may be ingestion of prion-contaminated soil. When CWD was first reported in free-ranging white-tailed deer in Wisconsin in February 2002, it was the first appearance of the disease east of the Mississippi River. CWD was first found in a Wisconsin farm-raised deer in September 2002.