Two deer harvested on the Menominee Reservation have tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
One deer was a doe which was harvested in the Jackson Creek area and the other was a spike buck harvested near Southeast Pine Lake. All positive results to date have come in the southeast corner of the reservation.
CWD is a contagious, fatal neurological disease that affects the nervous system of deer, elk, moose and caribou. It belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. Prions are misshaped proteins that can spread the disease through direct animal-to-animal contact or in the environment through bodily substances or the carcass of infected deer.
Prions are extremely resilient and capable of remaining in the soil for years, potentially infecting several deer from a single source. Common signs of infected deer in the later stages of the disease are drastic weight loss, drooped head and ears, loss of coordination, excessive salivation and reduced fear of humans.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization all recommend against consuming meat from deer that tests positive for CWD. Infected deer typically appear healthy for many months after contracting the disease, so DHS encourages testing for the disease regardless of the physical condition of the harvested deer, especially in areas prevalent with CWD. To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in humans.
Current tribal hunting regulations ban the baiting of deer on the reservation.
Deer can be brought to the east side of the College of Menominee Nation Culture Building, N172 State Highway 47-55, Keshena, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays. Deer heads can also be dropped off in the CWD sampling site box at the same location after hours. The tribe’s environmental services department checks the box daily.
For information, contact Don Reiter at 715-799-4938.
