The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the first positive case of chronic wasting disease in a wild deer in La Crosse County. The deer was a hunter-harvested adult buck taken within 10 miles of the Monroe and Vernon County borders.
As a result, La Crosse County’s existing baiting and feeding ban will be extended for an additional three years, as required by state law. The detection does not change current baiting and feeding bans already in place in Monroe and Vernon counties.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease that affects deer and other members of the deer family. The DNR has monitored Wisconsin’s deer herd for CWD since 1999, with the first cases identified in 2002.
The DNR reminds hunters and landowners that baiting and feeding deer increases the risk of spreading CWD by causing deer to gather unnaturally and share contaminated environments. More information on CWD and baiting and feeding regulations is available through the Wisconsin DNR.
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