CWD found for first time in Vilas County wild deer

Chronic wasting disease has been found in a wild deer in Vilas County, Wisconsin, for the first time.

The state Department of Natural Resources says the positive case came from a deer in the Town of Lincoln. CWD had previously only been detected in game farm deer in Vilas County but has been found in wild deer in neighboring Oneida County.

The DNR is planning to hold a meeting in January to discuss actions that will be taken in response to this case.

Hunters will be asked to have deer tested if they are harvested within 10 miles of the newly-detected case.

Due to the confirmed case, state law requires a three-year ban on baiting and feeding deer in Vilas County and a two-year ban in Forest County, since it is within 10 miles of the location of the positive case. A deer baiting and feeding ban was already in effect in Oneida County due to a positive case at a game farm earlier this year.

CWD is a fatal condition that affects deer, moose, elk, and reindeer/caribou. It was first detected in Wisconsin in 2002.

The vast majority of Wisconsin’s CWD cases in wild deer have been found in southern Wisconsin. In northwestern Wisconsin, CWD has been found in wild deer in Washburn County and in game farm deer in Burnett County, but it has never been detected in Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, Sawyer, Price, or Rusk counties.

LINK: Wisconsin DNR’s CWD information page