WABASHA, Minn. – The deer disease CWD short for “chronic wasting disease,” has been detected in a deer killed in Wabasha County. The Minnesota Department of Natural declined to say exactly where the deer was shot except that it was in a new surveillance zone where hunters are required to submit the brains their deer for testing. The neurological disorder causes deer to stop feeding, even drinking, and to go into agonizing trances. Although highly contagious among deer, caribou and elk, the disease isn’t transferable to humans. The concern of wildlife experts is that the disease could wipe out deer populations. Two weeks ago the disease was found in wild deer across the Mississippi River in Wisconsin’s Buffalo County. The disease entered southeast Minnesota in Houston County several years ago and has been spreading northward.
Wabasha County. Immediately north of Winona County. Across Mississippi River from a new CWD case in Wisconsin’s Buffalo County.