Four new counties have CWD in wild deer herd

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) deer herd health specialist Erin Larson  provided the members of the Natural Resources Board (NRB) with an update on chronic wasting disease (CWD) numbers from the 2023 deer season during the group’s May meeting.

April 1 through March 31 of the following year is the timeframe the department considers the “CWD season,” she explained. This allows for comparisons through the same date ranges from year to year.

She started her presentation with an overview and background of CWD in the state. The disease was originally confirmed in Wisconsin in February of 2002. From 2002 to 2007 agency sharp-shooting took place in an effort to reduce the number of deer on the landscape, thus reducing direct contact between animals. In 2010, she said, the department formulated its first 15-year CWD response plan. In 2011, legislative action removed the earn-a-buck regulation and the October antlerless hunt. The next year, the deer trustee report was released. That report recommended the department take a more passive response to fighting CWD. In 2014, Deer Management Units were changed to county boundaries rather than the habitat-based system that was in place prior to that. By 2015, electronic registration was implemented. That changed the framework of how the department collected CWD samples as well as the amount of contact they had with hunters. The DNR completed the third statewide sweep of CWD surveillance in places outside of the southern district in 2021, she added.

As of May 2024, Larson’s map showed, only eight counties have not been affected by CWD. As of this month, the department has made12,580 wild positive detections in 46 counties in the state, she said. The southwest part of the state still has the highest levels of detection. 

In 2023, 17,329 samples were received statewide. 

Of those, 2,054 came from the Northern Forest Zone. There were 1,586 positive tests last year, with the majority of them coming from the Southern Farmland Zone.

 There were no positives detected in the Northern Forest Zone last year.

There were also several first detections in the wild herd in 2023. There was one detection each in Polk, Waushara and Pierce counties. 

There were two detections in Jackson County and four in Trempealau County. Previously, no deer in the wild herd had tested positive in any of those counties.

There were also several captive facilities that had positive detections in 2023, Larson said. Dodge County had a captive detection in May. Sauk County’s came in June. Washburn County found CWD in a captive herd in August and Rock County in September. 

Oneida County had a new positive in a facility in November and Sheboygan found theirs in January. 

The facilities in Oneida, Washburn and Sheboygan counties are hunting ranches currently in operation. 

The operations at Sauk County and Rock County are deer farms currently in operation. The Dodge County facility has been depopulated.

Larson reported last year’s testing turnaround time was 9.1 days. 

She said credit was due to the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. The facility, she said, had implemented some new processes and also added staff.

There were 237 CWD sampling locations last year. Of those 176 were self-service kiosks. She also said there were 155 disposal options for deer carcasses last year. Eight of those were transfer stations, 16 were landfills and 131 were dumpsters through the Adopt-a-Dumpster Program.

Planning is currently underway for the fall of 2024.

 Also in the works, according to Larson, is a new 15-year CWD management plan to begin in 2025.

There is an interactive map available on the DNR website where users can drill down to a specific area and get more information about CWD detections. 

Visit the DNR website dnr.wi.gov and input “CWD” into the search box. 

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].