None of 9,000 free-ranging deer checked for chronic wasting disease around the state in 2008 tested positive, state wildlife official are expected to report today at the Natural Resources Commission meeting in Lansing.
The disease was discovered in one Kent County breeding farm deer last August. To date, it is the only deer to test positive for CWD. Disease experts also tested 4,000 deer on captive breeding facilities.
"We're not out of the woods yet," said Steve Schmitt, the wildlife veterinarian for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. "We are going to do surveillance for another two years around Kent County and will always be doing some type of CWD surveillance around the state because you never know when the disease may enter the state."
Schmitt said of the 9,000 deer the agency tested statewide, 1,523 were from the nine-township zone around the farm where the infected deer was found. A total of 1,878 free-ranging deer were tested in Kent County. Another 1,845 deer were tested in the counties that surround Kent.
"The most important number is the 1,523," Schmitt said. "Those are the deer from right around the area where the sick deer was found."
Source: MLive
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment