CWD found in farm-raised deer in Crow Wing County

ST. PAUL—Just weeks after chronic wasting disease was found in three wild deer in southeast Minnesota, the fatal brain disease has been identified in a farmed deer herd in Crow Wing County near Merrifield, Minn., the Minnesota Department of Animal Health reported Friday.

The herd of 33 mule deer and 100 white-tailed deer is registered with the Board of Animal Health. Two, 2-year-old female deer were slaughtered on the farm, and both tested positive for CWD, the board said. The deer showed no clinical signs of illness.

The Board of Animal Health requires CWD testing of all farmed deer or elk that die or are slaughtered and are more than 12 months old. Routine tissue samples were collected at slaughter from the CWD-infected deer. Those samples were tested at the University of Minnesota's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and then forwarded to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for official confirmation. Those tests confirmed CWD.

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