Michigan increases chronic wasting disease testing in northwestern Lower Peninsula – Outdoor News
Gaylord, Mich. — This year, chronic wasting disease testing in Michigan will be focused in the northwestern Lower Peninsula and in a few counties in other areas where additional information is still needed.
The counties for CWD testing in 2023 include Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Hillsdale, Isabella, Kalkaska, Lake, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, Osceola and Wexford. In these counties there will be drop boxes, staffed submission sites and partner processors and taxidermists to assist with the collection efforts.
Historically, testing has occurred in and around areas where CWD has been detected to date. This has led to detection of CWD in 12 of Michigan’s 83 counties, with Midland being the latest this summer.
Starting in 2021, the DNR began a rotational approach to testing for CWD around the state. With this new approach, a group of counties in the state is selected each year, with a desire to eventually test sufficient numbers of deer in every county across the state.
The goal of this approach is early disease detection, as management has the potential to be most effective when the disease is caught early. Most of these areas have not had a CWD detection or have not previously been part of intensive testing efforts, so little is known about disease status in these locations.
For more info on where CWD has been found, see the County-level CWD detection information page on the DNR website.
