Update April 17, 6:17 p.m.: a reader asks how long this action took since a bill requiring mandatory depopulation of a herd where CWD positive tests occurred. Good question; first-term St. Paul Democrat Representative Kaohly Her's HF1362 was introduced on February 18, 2019, so it was about two months. The bill was heard in the Minnesota House Ag and Food Finance and Policy Division on March 7. [end update]
In CWD positive Crow Wing County deer farm depopulated, a press release issued yesterday, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health stated:
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced the depopulation of all the deer on a Crow Wing County Farm first infected with CWD in 2016. The USDA is providing indemnity to the owner for the animals as part of its overall disease control effort. The Board of Animal Health is coordinating with the USDA to collect tissue samples for CWD testing, and will report results when they become available.
“We anticipate receiving CWD testing results from the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory within the coming weeks,” said Board of Animal Health Assistant Director, Dr. Linda Glaser. “We’ve already developed a herd plan with the owner on how to handle the property now that the deer are gone. At this point, any CWD positive results do not change our disease response, because we already know the site held CWD positive deer and have been treating it as such.”
This Crow Wing County deer herd was the only CWD positive farm in the state operating under a herd plan with live animals. As of this depopulation, all CWD positive deer farms in the state are empty. Following depopulation, the sites are managed in accordance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Board of Animal Health-approved herd plan. The Board continues mandatory CWD monitoring in all other farmed cervid herds and has no CWD positive detections as of this release.
CWD is a disease of the deer and elk family 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. CWD is not known to naturally occur in other animals. The disease is fatal in deer and elk, and there are no known treatments or vaccines. Consuming infected meat is not advised
The captive deer farm was the Trophy Woods Ranch, which had a history of CWD-infected animals in its herd. The Voice of Alexandria reported in Central Minnesota Deer Ranch Shut Down Over CWD:
Minnesota's effort to eliminate chronic wasting disease has resulted in the shutdown of a deer farm near Merrifield.
One deer in the herd at Trophy Woods Ranch tested positive for CWD three years ago, then four more tested positive in 2018. This past January, a wild deer found near the farm also tested positive -- so owner Kevin Schmidt agreed to have it de-populated. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health reports there were about 100 deer on the property. The USDA compensated Schmidt for the loss of his herd.
At the Star Tribune, Tony Kennedy reported in All deer at Crow Wing County deer farm euthanized in deal to contain CWD:
The deer farm in Crow Wing County that has harbored chronic wasting disease since 2016 is out of business under an agreement that paid the owner to have his entire herd euthanized.
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced the “depopulation’’ late Wednesday without disclosing how much the farmer was paid or how many deer were killed to manage the threat of the disease spreading to the region’s wild deer.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) had never been detected in a wild deer in the central or northern parts of Minnesota until the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced in February that an emaciated female deer found dead “very close’’ to the Merrifield deer farm tested positive.
The discovery prompted an emergency hunting effort to thin the local herd in hopes of reducing deer-to-deer transmission. Since 2016, when the DNR was first informed of the farm’s disease problem, the state has paid for the testing of more than 8,600 deer harvested by hunters in a CWD management zone around the farm.. . .
“We’re glad they have been depopulated and we’re anxiously awaiting the results,’’ said DNR Wildlife Research Manager Lou Cornicelli.
He said the DNR has been wanting the fenced-in deer farm to be shut down for more than two years. Known as Trophy Woods Ranch, it was a pay-to-hunt* shooting pen and was known for offering monster mule deer bucks and whitetail bucks. At least seven deer at the farm were confirmed as being infected with CWD since 2016. Cornicelli said he believes the herd was close to 100 strong.
Michael Crusan, a spokesman for the Board of Animal Health, said the depopulation payment won’t be disclosed. It was negotiated and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). . . .
Because the prions that cause the disease remain in the soil, the board and USDA — with input from the DNR — will implement a management plan for the site.
Readers may remember the role the Crow Wing County farm played in earlier discussions of CWD during the Minnesota legislative session. Bluestem posted CWD found in Crow Wing County wild doe; Walz to up funds for DNR & Board of Animal Health and CWD news digest: county board backs off on sharpshooter ban, Merrifield meeting & more. See also the discussion of the Crow Wing County farm in Fabian donor: Kittson County deer farmer battles scientists, DFL lawmakers in Facebook videos. We also recommend VIDEO: Ag & Food Division hears CWD bills.
*Bluestem objects to the word "hunt" in the Star Tribune copy: "pay-to-hunt shooting pen" much more resembles shooting fish in a barrel, rather than the skill it takes to hunt wild deer.
Map: The location of the dead doe that was found in Crow Wing County that was infected with Chronic Wasting Disease and the Trophy Woods Ranch, where a number of deer tested positive for CWD in 2016 and 2018. The captive deer on the farm have been euthanized and will be tested for CWD. Via DNR.
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