A deer shot this fall in Dickinson County, Michigan, has tested positive for chronic wasting, the first documented case of deadly deer disease in the Upper Peninsula state.

The discovery was announced Thursday by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The agency said it was taking immediate action to remedy the situation in the Upper Peninsula.

In the short term, state officials will increase the number of CWD screening tests and provide active surveillance to better understand where the disease is, said Russ Mason, MDNR Wildlife Division Chief.

The goal of the agency is to determine if the CWD deer is an outlier or if there are more infected deer in the area.

The sick animal, a 4-year-old doe, was shot dead on a farm in Waucedah Township, about 4 miles north of the Wisconsin-Michigan border, according to John Pepin, who is responsible for the disease. information from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The site is located approximately 10 miles east of Niagara, Wisconsin, and 15 miles east of Iron Mountain, Michigan.

The deer was shot on an agricultural permit and tested. The positive result for CWD was confirmed by the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in East Lansing and the US Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

The first animal from Michigan, carrying the MDC, was found in 2008 at a deer farm in Kent County, in the lower peninsula of the state. The disease has since been discovered in another captive institution, as well as since 2015 in wild deer in six counties on the lower peninsula.

However, all discoveries in the Lower Peninsula are separated by more than 150 miles from the recent CWD-positive deer in Dickinson County.

The nearest documented CWD case was discovered in June at a deer farm in Marinette County, Wisconsin.

The doe, two years old, died at Wild Rivers Whitetails in Goodman, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection owns about 320 deer in a fenced 230-acre facility and also maintains a nearby fenced area as a shooting reserve.

Pepin said that it was unclear how the wild deer of Dickinson County had been infected.

Michigan has launched a Keep the U.P. CWD Free "in 2015. In addition to awareness of the disease, the state promulgated a regulation prohibiting the importation of carcasses of whole deer from Wisconsin and other areas infected with CWD.

In North America, CWD has been documented in wild and captive cervids in 25 states and three Canadian provinces.

Pepin said the increased awareness created by the women's disease advocacy campaign would help the agency implement the intervention measures.

The agency's goal is to test 600 deer in a central area of ​​10 square miles in and around Waucedah Township.

"We are going to need the help of the hunters, who have been very cooperative in all our efforts up to now," said Pepin.

The agency will establish additional deer boxes for deer heads in the area and will provide disease control licenses to interested owners who own more than 5 acres of land and are within 5 miles of the center of deer. the surveillance zone.

In the longer term, Michigan wildlife officials will review the Communicable Disease Control and Response Plan and the Agency's Best Management Practices for Communicable Disease Control.

"Hunters' actions are important in the fight against CWD," said Chad Stewart, MDNR Cervid Management Specialist.

Stewart urged hunters to: continue to hunt; have their cervids tested for CWD; transport, treat and dispose of deer carcasses responsibly; visit the agency's website to learn more about the proper transport of carcasses in Michigan from the state; and pass on these tips to other hunters.

For the next hunting season and beyond, the DNR will discuss possible intervention measures with the U.P. hunters and other stakeholders to determine the best approach to fighting CWD in the region, said Stewart.

Deadline for the Winnebago Sturgeon Harpoon License: October 31 is the deadline to purchase Winnebago Lake in 2019 Harpooning permit for sturgeons.

Licenses cost $ 20 for residents and $ 65 for non-residents. You can buy them by visiting GoWild.Wi.gov or any licensing point of sale. The minimum age of the spear is 12 years old.

There is unlimited license sales on Lake Winnebago, while fishing in Upriver Lakes is run by a lottery and limited to 500 licensed carriers.

Spears who have applied for a lottery Upriver Lakes license but have not been drawn for a license receive a point of preference and may still purchase a license for Lake Winnebago before the October 31st deadline. The stinging season for Sturgeon 2019 begins on February 9th.

For more information on the Lake Winnebago Lake Sturgeon Fishery, visit the website www.nw.wi.gov and search on "The Lake Laurel Spear of Winnebago Lake".