Board of Animal Health provides update on disease control efforts

With three cases of chronic wasting disease identified a few weeks ago in southeastern Minnesota and a herd of farmed deer now under quarantine for the disease in Crow Wing County, the overview presentation given to the House agriculture committees Thursday by the Board of Animal Heath was well timed.

Executive Director Beth Thompson told a joint meeting of the House Agriculture Finance and Policy committees that Minnesota is “as prepared as we are able to be for an animal disease.” She said the deer herd in Crow Wing is under movement restrictions and discussions are ongoing among state officials and the owners for a possible solution.

In southeast Minnesota, a special hunt began Dec. 31 and will conclude Sunday to reduce the deer population in that area.

CWD is a fatal brain disease found in deer, moose and elk, but has not been shown to impact human health.

Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), chair of the House Agriculture Policy Committee, said he would hold a hearing on CWD “in a couple of weeks” to further explore the issue.

In response to Minnesota’s 2015 avian influenza outbreak, the board received an emergency response appropriation of $1.8 million, and Thompson said the $1.3 million that remains is now being used to develop faster testing procedures and outreach to counties for ongoing training programs.

WATCH Full video of the meeting

Rep. Dale Lueck (R-Aitkin) asked Thompson about the impact another potential threat the board monitors, foot-and-mouth disease, would have on the state should an outbreak occur.

“I didn’t want to let that go by, the real risk that foot and mouth disease has for our national economy,” Lueck said.

Thompson cited a recent study she’d read that estimated an economic loss of $4 billion.

“It not only affects pigs, it effects cattle, it’s very contagious,” she said. “We would likely see our international trade shut down.”