Brain Eating Disease Breaks Out At Wisconsin Deer Farm

A deer farm in Washburn County, Wisconsin is under quarantine after one of its deer tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease which is a highly contagious brain disease.

Scientists in Ames, Iowa were able to confirm that a 3-year-old doe at a Washburn County, Wisconsin deer farm tested positive for CWD.

In total, there are over 300 deer on the now-quarantined deer farm and an investigation is now underway to find out how many more deer have been infected with the disease.

CWD can cause weight loss, dizziness, and other neurological problems in deer.

Humans have yet to ever be infected by CWD but the CDC has warned humans could be at risk from catching the disease.

Wisconsin deer farm infected with fatal brain disease https://t.co/XkOj7aCHED

— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 3, 2023

Experts say a deer at a Wisconsin shooting preserve is infected with chronic wasting disease https://t.co/IUnNuWcDsJ

— WCCO | CBS News Minnesota (@WCCO) September 3, 2023

Fox News had these details to add:

A deer farm in Wisconsin is under quarantine after testing positive for chronic wasting disease(CWD), a highly contagious and fatal brain disease.

Scientists with the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirmed that samples from a three-year-old doe tested positive for the neurological disease, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.

The 150-acre farm, Thundeer Trophy Whitetails in Washburn County, has been placed under quarantine while state and federal agriculture officials conduct an epidemiological investigation. The farm has about 300 deer on its land.

The doe was transferred from Rodenkirch Whitetails and Genetics, a deer farm in Beaver Dam, to the farm on October 4, according to records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The doe has since been culled from the farm’s herd.

Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease that can cause weight loss, stumbling, listlessness and neurological symptoms, according to the CDC. It has been spotted in deer, elk, reindeer and moosein areas of North America, Canada, Norway and South Korea. Symptoms can take up to a year to develop.

Chronic Wasting Disease Confirmed in Wisconsin Deer Farm, Prompts Urgent Quarantine and Investigation https://t.co/9ozHtAZrJN

— Data Report (@CovidDataReport) September 3, 2023

Per CBS News:

Scientists have confirmed that a captive deer at a northwestern Wisconsin shooting preserve has tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

State agriculture officials announced Thursday that the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the 3-year-old doe at Thundeer Trophy Whitetails in Birchwood was infected, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Records show the doe was transferred from Rodenkirch Whitetails and Genetics, a deer farm in Beaver Dam, to the preserve on Oct. 4. The disease hadn’t been found at either facility at the time of the transfer, although a doe at the Rodenkirch farm tested positive in March. As a result the doe at Thundeer Trophy Whitetails was culled from that facility’s herd. The preserve has about 300 deer spread across 150 acres.

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Chronic wasting disease is an always-fatal neurological disease in deer, elk and moose. It’s been found in 31 states, four Canadian provinces and several foreign countries, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Center. It was first detected in Wisconsin in 2002.

Deer can be tested for chronic wasting disease only after they’re dead. State agriculture officials didn’t say when the doe at Thundeer Trophy Whitetails was killed.