Wild deer tests positive for CWD in Michigan’s Mecosta County for the first time – Outdoor News
Mecosta is now the 14th Michigan county where chronic wasting disease has been identified in the wild deer population, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. An adult buck harvested in Millbrook Township recently tested positive for the disease.
The CWD finding was confirmed by the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which works with the DNR to identify CWD in Michigan’s wild deer herd. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, in Ames, Iowa, also confirmed the test result.
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, elk and moose. To date, the disease has also been detected in the following Michigan counties: Clinton, Dickinson, Eaton, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kent, Midland, Montcalm and Ogemaw.
Intensive CWD surveillance was conducted from 2017 to 2019 in Mecosta County, with over 5,600 deer tested and no positives identified during that time. However, Millbrook Township borders Montcalm County, where 167 deer have tested positive for CWD through combined DNR collections and direct hunter submissions to the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
“The expansion of CWD to Mecosta County is consistent with the slow spread we’ve seen throughout Michigan, especially since the CWD-positive animal was harvested near confirmed cases in adjacent Montcalm County,” said Chad Fedewa, acting DNR deer, elk and moose management specialist. “We appreciate the hunting community for the crucial role they continue to play in disease-testing efforts.”
There are several testing options available, depending on where in the state a person is hunting.
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Testing background and strategy
After initial intensive testing near areas of the first CWD detections in the state, the DNR began a rotational approach for testing in 2021.
A group of counties is selected each year, with the eventual aim of testing enough deer in every Michigan county. The goal of this approach is early disease detection, as management has the potential to be most effective when the disease is caught early.
In 2021 and 2022, the rotational approach focused testing in areas of both the southwestern and southeastern Lower Peninsula. In 2023, the focus moved to the northern Lower Peninsula, and in 2024, testing focused on parts of both the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula.
In these areas, deer can be submitted through drop boxes, staffed check stations and participating deer processors and taxidermists. In the rest of the state, testing is available for a fee through direct submission by hunters to a cooperating USDA-approved diagnostic laboratory or through free self-sample shipping kits in counties where CWD has previously been detected.
All deer from counties with previous confirmed cases of CWD or bovine tuberculosis that are donated to the Hunters Feeding Michigan program also are submitted directly to the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for testing.
Samples for 2024 are still being processed. Once completed, analyses will help identify counties in need of additional CWD testing in 2025.
Since chronic wasting disease was first detected in wild deer in 2015, over 109,000 deer have been tested for CWD in Michigan. In total, more than 143,000 wild deer have been tested through DNR surveillance efforts that started in 2002, with 260 CWD-positive deer identified.
In addition, since direct hunter submissions of deer to the MSU laboratory began in 2020, more than 2,500 submitted samples have yielded 47 additional confirmed positives.
Safety recommendations
To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in people. However, as a precaution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that infected animals not be consumed as food by either humans or domestic animals.
Hunters also are reminded to use caution when field-dressing or processing a deer. This includes practices such as wearing rubber gloves, minimizing contact with the deer’s brain and spinal tissue, and washing your hands with soap and warm water after handling any parts of the carcass.
Proper disposal of a deer carcass is critical to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease. Deer carcasses and parts should go directly to a landfill or be disposed of through your regular bagged trash pickup. Deer harvested from known CWD areas should never be disposed of on the landscape.
For more information on chronic wasting disease, visit Michigan.gov/CWD.
