You can help protect the state's herd from chronic wasting disease when you harvest a deer in Door and Kewaunee counties this year. Hunters in seventeen northeast Wisconsin counties are being asked to have their deer carcasses tested for CWD because they want more samples to identify where the disease is most common. CWD is a contagious neurological disease that is caused by misshapen proteins that accumulate and prey on the central nervous system. DNR Wildlife Health Conservation Specialist Amanda Kamps says signs of CWD can take 16 months to be visible, and when they show up it will look like the deer is “wasting away.”
Kamps notes that if a deer carcass tests positive for CWD, the hunter can still choose whether or not to consume its meat. She adds that the DNR backs the recommendation by the state health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to not consume CWD-infected venison. If your sample comes back positive, Kamps suggests that you find a designated deer carcass dumpster to dispose of your deer, which can help slow CWD spread. Here are four ways the DNR offers to help you submit a CWD testing sample:
- Self-service kiosks where hunters can submit their deer’s head for testing
- A network of cooperating meat processors, taxidermists, and other businesses who can assist with CWD sampling
- By-appointment sampling with your county wildlife biologist
- Kits for hunters to extract lymph node tissue themselves to submit to the DNR for testing
