LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has announced another chronic wasting disease (CWD) positive deer has been found at a Michigan cervid ranch.

It was discovered in Montcalm County, on the state’s west side, and is the sixth case to be detected altogether on deer farms in Michigan since 2008, according to the announcement. CWD has also been found in free ranging deer in Michigan since 2015, all through routine testing and surveillance. With free ranging deer, CWD positive cases have been found in nine counties and in 123 animals in Montcalm County alone. On farms, CWD positive deer have been discovered in Kent, Mecosta (two), Montcalm (two) and Newaygo counties.

An investigation will be conducted on the affected farm to rule out exposure of any other animals and to find out, among other things, where the CWD positive deer originated. It’s possible the entire herd could be depopulated, or put down, said Nora Wineland, the state’s chief veterinarian. However, that will depend on what investigators discover upon further investigation. Wineland acknowledged this is a sensitive topic, especially since there is no state program to compensate cervid ranchers who lose their herd through depopulation due to a CWD infestation. There is a federal program  – administered by the USDA –  which could compensate ranchers in such a situation, but that would depend on the program’s funding at the time.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk and moose. It’s a prion disease, similar to scrapie in sheep and so-called Mad Cow disease. It’s difficult to deal with because an infected animal can appear healthy for years, though it will eventually become sick and will die from the infection. The animal in question was 4 years old and was not symptomatic, Wineland stated.

“We have a response plan that we follow as best we can, but it’s rather old, so it’s not that well developed,” Wineland explained. “This is only our sixth positivity. We’ll do contact tracing to find out where the animal was; we do not necessarily have to depopulate the herd.” Officials at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have been pessimistic about their ability to control the spread of CWD in the free ranging deer population, since the animals are not confined and can go anywhere, possibly infecting any animal they come in contact with.

“In farm cervids, we have controls available to limit the spread of CWD,” she added. But Wineland acknowledged that MDARD faces similar challenges as the DNR in that the tools available to veterinarians to find CWD cases are not optimal. “Until we have better diagnostic tools to detect infection sooner, addressing and stopping the disease will be difficult.”

Although CWD doesn’t appear to be prevalent in cervids raised in captivity at this time in Michigan, Wineland advised that this is something that ranchers, breeders and exhibitors should definitely pay attention to. “Knowing where you’re buying from is definitely the way to go if you’re worried about CWD in your herd,” she stated.

More information about CWD can be found at michigan.gov/cwd or michigan.gov/mdard-cervid.