Deadly disease in American animals detected in wild deer in the new county

Wildlife managers have confirmed the presence of a chronic debilitating disease in a wild deer in a county of central Minnesota – a first discovery of fatal brain disease among the wild deer of the state located at the Outside the southeast of the state.

The deer was found dead half a kilometer from a farm where deer in captivity were tested positive for the disease, said Friday Lou Cornicelli, head of wildlife research for the Department of Natural Resources. The farm is probably the source of the infection, he said.

The disease had previously been found in wild deer in Minnesota only in Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties. This last discovery was in Crow Wing County.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will ask the legislature $ 4.57 million over the next two years, then $ 1.1 million a year to fight the disease, which was reported in January in deer, elk and / or moose at large in at least two dozen states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Since 2000, the area known to be affected by CWD in wild animals has increased to at least 24 states, including Midwestern, Southwestern and limited East Coast states," says CDC. .

The disease, which is progressive and fatal, "affects the brain, spinal cord and many other tissues of deer, elk and moose high and loose," says the CDC. It was first discovered in captive deer in the United States in the 1960s and later in wild deer in the early 1980s.

The CDC urges hunters to avoid firing, eating or handling meat from elk or deer that appear to be sick or "acting strangely".

Although the CDC say that it is unknown that people could be infected with MDC prions, the infection would most likely come from the consumption of infected animals.

CDC