CLAY AND HENNEPIN COUNTIES, Minn. – Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources confirms two adult, male deer test positive for chronic wasting disease near Hawley and Greenfield.
The deer were found in permit areas without previously confirmed cases of the disease. Both deer were harvested during the firearms season.
The DNR will implement measures outlined in its chronic wasting disease response plan calling for three years of testing to help determine the potential of the disease.
“This finding is concerning because it indicates possible new areas of CWD prevalence in wild deer where it hasn’t previously been detected. This also highlights how important our disease surveillance efforts are and how critical it is that hunters are able to test deer harvested anywhere in the state if they would like to,” DNR Wildlife Health Supervisor Erik Hildebrand said.
