Madison, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the first positive test for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a wild deer in Pierce County. The deer was ailing and shipped to the town of Spring Lake, within 16 miles of the Dunn and St. County lines. Croix.
The deer was a 4-5 year elderly doe. This detection will cause the following events:
- Pierce County has a three-year baiting and feeding ban effective May 15, 2024.
- Two-year baiting and feeding ban in St. County Croix will begin on May 15, 2024.
- Dunn County will renew a ban already in place.
The DNR and the Pierce County Deer Advisory Council plan to hold a public meeting. More details will be provided in a future press release and on the website Calendar of DNR hearings and meetings. During the meeting, DNR staff will provide information about CWD in Wisconsin and local research efforts in Pierce County.
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State law requires the DNR to implement a three-year baiting and feeding ban in counties where CWD has been detected, as well as a two-year ban in adjacent counties within 10 miles of a CWD detection. If additional cases of CWD are detected during the baiting and feeding ban, the ban will be renewed for an additional two or three years.
Baiting or feeding deer prevents deer from unnaturally congregating around a common food source, where an infected deer can spread CWD through direct contact with a vigorous deer or by leaving infectious prions in their saliva, blood, feces and urine.
More information about baiting and feeding regulations can be found on the DNR website Website dedicated to baits and feeding.
CWD is a fatal, contagious disease of the nervous system of deer, elk, moose and reindeer/caribou. It belongs to a family of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) or prion diseases.
The DNR began monitoring the status of the wild white-tailed deer population for CWD in 1999. The first positive results were obtained in 2002.
More general information about CWD can be found at the DNR CWD website.
