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No Positive CWD Tests In Northwoods From 2016 Hunt

Wisconsin DNR

So far, so good after the first full hunting seasons in the Northwoods after the DNR discovered Chronic Wasting Disease at a deer farm in Three Lakes in 2015.

DNR Wildlife Biologist Jeremy Holtz gives results after the testing....

"....the good news is of all the samples we've analyzed for the last deer season, we've had zero positive tests in the wild. Every single test we've submitted has been negative for the 2016 deer season...."

Hunters in Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties voluntarily submitted adult deer heads heads for testing. He says the lymph nodes were extracted and sent to a processing center and results were back in about two weeks.

He says they were focusing in on a 10 mile radius of the deer farm...

"....in Oneida county alone, we had 116 samples collected. We had 64 in Vilas county. We only had 10 in Forest county but they have a little bit lower human and deer population. We hit the number of samples we were hoping for in the three county area. They were spread across the counties, not just focused in the 10 mile perimeter which was the primary target...."

Using the latest data for 2016, 447 deer tested positive for CWD with 442 of those deer in the southern farm zone. Five deer in central Wisconsin tested positive and zero in the Northwoods.

Of Wisconsin's 72 counties, 18 currently have CWD detected in the wild deer herd.

Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties were put under a deer baiting and feeding ban as a result of the discovery.

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