Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced Nov. 30 that it has confirmed the first positive test for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a wild deer in Jackson County. The deer was shot in the town of Garfield and is located within 10 miles of the Eau Claire and Trempealeau county lines.
Detection will result in the following consequences:
- Jackson County will renew its existing baiting and feeding ban.
- Eau Claire and Trempealeau counties currently have three-year bans on pest baiting and feeding when pests are detected within the county, so this detection will not impact those counties.
The deer is a 2-year-old male that was shot by a hunter. This is the first confirmed case of chronic wasting disease in a wild deer in Jackson County.
The DNR and Jackson County Deer Advisory Council are planning a public meeting, the date and location of which have not yet been determined. More details will be provided in the future. At the meeting, DNR staff will provide information on CWD in Wisconsin and local testing efforts in Jackson County.
RELATED ARTICLES FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:
Wisconsin DNR confirms presence of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in Trempealeau County, a county bordering Minnesota
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirms first positive test for chronic wasting disease in wild deer in Polk County, a county bordering Minnesota and Wisconsin
Commentary: Wisconsin Legislature Remains Unconcerned as Chronic Wasting Disease Strikes 60% of Counties
State law requires the DNR to impose a three-year baiting and feeding ban in counties where CWD is detected, as well as a two-year ban in neighboring counties within 10 miles of where CWD is detected. If additional CWD cases are detected during the baiting and feeding ban, the ban would be extended for another two or three years.
The DNR also reminds the public that it is illegal to hunt in an area where bait and feed have previously been legally placed until the area has been completely free of bait or feed for 10 consecutive days.
Baiting or feeding deer causes them to congregate unnaturally around a common food source, allowing infected deer to spread chronic wasting disease through direct contact with well deer or indirectly by shedding infectious prions in their saliva, blood, feces and urine.
More information on baiting and feeding regulations can be found on the DNR website A website dedicated to baiting and feeding.
Hunters asked for support
The DNR is asking deer hunters in Jackson, Eau Claire and Trempealeau counties to support identify CWD hotspots on the landscape by testing deer for the disease. CWD sampling is imperative to assessing the presence of CWD in the statewide deer population.
In addition to submitting samples for chronic wasting disease testing, hunters are also encouraged to properly dispose of deer carcass waste by finding a designated trash container, transfer station or landfill. Proper carcass disposal helps ponderous the spread of chronic wasting disease by removing potentially infected deer carcasses from the landscape. Map CWD sampling and carcass disposal locations is available in DNR CWD Sampling Website.
CWD is a fatal, infectious disease of the nervous system in deer, elk, elk, and reindeer/caribou. It belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. The DNR began monitoring the state’s wild deer population for CWD in 1999. The first positive results were found in 2002.
More general information about chronic wasting disease can be found on the DNR website CWD website.
