Overview
- A wild female deer found near Stillwater that died on July 16 has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed this week.
- A landowner reported the animal’s abnormal behavior — the deer appeared unafraid of people and emaciated — and DNR staff collected the carcass for necropsy and testing at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
- The detection was recorded in Deer Permit Area 236, roughly 30 miles from the nearest known CWD cases in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, and the DNR is developing a localized surveillance and response for that permit area.
- Minnesota is rolling out a new four-year rotational CWD surveillance plan that divides the state into quadrants, with 2026 sampling focused on the southwest quadrant and hunters in the selected quadrant required to test harvested deer one year old or older during firearms opening weekend.
- CWD is a fatal, contagious brain disease of deer, moose, and elk with no cure and it has been found in more than two-thirds of U.S. states, so new detections outside established clusters can prompt feed bans, changes to hunting rules, and other measures to limit spread.