Back in April, we posted BAH: Southern Minnesota CWD investigation identifies new infection in Beltrami County .
That location turned up again in May 18's News release: U of M testing finds presence of CWD prions at Beltrami Co. carcass dump site, from the University of Minnesota.
Just in from the Minnesota Animal Board of Health, which has oversight of farmed cervidae in the North Star state, "Additional CWD positives and illegal carcass disposal spur expanded investigation and response in Beltrami County." And the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued its own news release, "DNR stresses urgency in addressing chronic wasting disease in Minnesota."
The duo of press releases underscores the debate in the Minnesota legislature over which agency should monitor CWD in farmed cervidae in the state.
Here's the OAH release:
Twelve additional white-tailed deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the infected Beltrami County farmed deer herd, five adult does and seven fawns. The Board of Animal Health (Board) first reported this CWD positive herd in April when a 3-year-old doe tested positive for the disease. Earlier this month, the remaining 54 animals in the herd were depopulated by the USDA and samples from each animal were collected and then tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories.
The Beltrami County farmed deer herd was initially quarantined in October 2020 due to receiving animals from a Winona County source herd. Among the deer received by the Beltrami County herd was the doe which tested positive for CWD in early April, about 1 – 1.5 years after moving out of the source herd.
During an inspection of the Beltrami County premises following the quarantine of the herd, a Board agent discovered several adult deer and fawn carcasses had been moved by the owner to nearby county-managed tax-forfeit land. This spurred an investigation by the Board, which has been working with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Pollution Control Agency, and tribal and local officials to mitigate any potential spread of CWD from these carcasses. Due to test results that indicate CWD-causing prions are on this site, agencies are currently working with the county to build a fence that would prevent wild deer access to the site and reduce the risk of prion exposure. The DNR is following its CWD response plan and is planning to test hunter harvested deer this fall to understand whether CWD is in wild deer in this area. The Board’s ongoing investigation will address possible violations of Minnesota animal health laws.
Of the 12 additional CWD positive animals most recently identified, nine were born on the Beltrami County farm and three were moved to the farm from other Minnesota herds. These herds are considered to be CWD exposed since there is a possibility the animals could have been infected with the disease prior to being moved to Beltrami County. One of the CWD exposed herds (Winona County) was officially quarantined during the Houston County positive herd investigation. The other two CWD exposed herds in Hennepin and Kanabec Counties were quarantined Thursday, May 20. Three additional CWD exposed herds located in Mille Lacs, Morrison and Mower Counties received animals from the Kanabec County herd and were quarantined on Friday, May 21. The Board is working to identify and test animals in all of these CWD exposed herds that resided in a herd at the same time as a CWD positive animal.
Please review the attached diagram for a visual representation of the exposed herds and their connection to one another.
Bluestem has posted a screengrab at the top of this post. Click here to view an accessible version of this diagram, which links to PDFs about each location's details. The press release continues:
CWD is a neurological disease of the deer and elk family caused by prions, and is always fatal. The disease can be spread by both direct (animal-to-animal) and indirect (environmental) contact with infected Cervidae. Prions are shed through saliva, urine, blood, feces, and antler velvet and are known to persist in the environment for years. Additionally, carcass remains from a dead infected deer can serve as a source of further infection to other Cervidae. Consuming meat from CWD infected animals is not advised.
Outdoor News published Additional CWD-positives, illegal carcass disposal spur expanded investigation, response in Beltrami County, billed as a Minnesota DNR Reports item.
We've received the followed release, "DNR stresses urgency in addressing chronic wasting disease in Minnesota," as well:
Today, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (BAH) announced that 12 additional white-tailed deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) as part of its ongoing investigation of a farm in Beltrami County. The DNR believes the situation at the Beltrami County deer farm significantly changes the risk assessment and concern about CWD in Minnesota.
Following the discovery of the initial positive case in the Beltrami County herd, deer remains from that farm were discovered on adjacent county-managed land, elevating the risk to wild deer. The DNR and University of Minnesota researchers immediately surveyed the land for additional remains and confirmed the presence of CWD-causing prions in at least one bone.
Based on the findings in Beltrami County, last week BAH quarantined five additional farmed deer herds because of possible CWD exposure. These additional herds are located in the following Minnesota counties: Hennepin, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, and Mower.
The DNR is fully committed to limiting the spread of CWD in wild deer and to the health of Minnesota’s wild deer herd.
We firmly believe this situation is urgent and that it requires a comprehensive approach in order to protect the health of Minnesota’s wild deer. Minnesota must take a strong, proactive stance to achieve three goals:
- address the site of the deer remains in Beltrami County;
- reduce additional risk from Beltrami County through herd quarantine and thorough trace-outs to other herds;
- move to a more proactive and preventative approach to addressing systemic gaps in the farmed deer system.
Recognizing the significance of this development, DNR is coordinating with partners at the federal, state, and local level to ensure an assertive and nimble response. This includes working with:
- Beltrami County to coordinate containment of the contaminated site on county-managed land where the deer remains were discovered;
- Center for Prion Research and Outreach at the University of Minnesota to test the deer remains at the site and nearby soil samples for presence of CWD prions;
- BAH on its management of the nearby CWD contaminated deer farm and trace-outs to other farms;
- U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on prion-contaminated site remediation; and
- Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth bands of Ojibwe on information exchange and plans for sampling hunter-harvested deer and data collection this fall.
For more information and updates on CWD management at the DNR, please visit our website.
We're pleased to see the DNR working with tribal governments on the issue, as well as state and federal agencies and the U of M. Leech Lake descendant, deer hunter, and Roseville Democrat Jamie Becker-Finn has been a champion in the state's fight against CWD.
Screengrab: The OAH's flow chart of CWD spread to MN deer farms.
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