Tests Show No Spread Of Chronic Wasting Disease In Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tests found no chronic wasting disease in more than 11,000 deer shot by hunters in north-central, central and southeastern Minnesota this fall, and officials say it gives them confidence that the fatal brain disease has not spread beyond a small pocket in the southeast corner of the state.

The Department of Natural Resources ordered the precautionary testing in north-central and central Minnesota this fall after the disease was found in captive deer on farms in in Crow Wing and Meeker County.

The testing also found no spread of the disease beyond the state’s designated disease management zone near Preston in southeastern Minnesota, where CWD was already known to exist in wild deer. Tests from that zone found six confirmed and one suspected case, which is down from 11 last season.