ST. PAUL – Southeastern Minnesota hunters take note: the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently discovered Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in two harvested deer in Fillmore County.
“While this news certainly isn’t a cause for panic, it should serve as a reminder to both hunters and landowners to be patient and careful,” said State Representative Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa).
CWD is a fatal brain disease to deer, elk and moose but is not known to affect human health.
With the muzzleloader deer season stretching into mid-December and archery season open through Saturday, Dec. 31, the DNR recommends taking these precautions when harvesting deer:
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Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that is acting abnormally or appears to be sick.
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Wear latex or rubber gloves when field dressing your deer.
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Bone out the meat from your animal. Don’t saw through bone, and avoid cutting through the brain or spinal cord (backbone).
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Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.
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Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field dressing is completed.
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Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of harvested animals. Normal field dressing coupled with boning out a carcass will remove most, if not all, of these body parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining lymph nodes.
For more information, Drazkowski said you should visit the DNR’s CWD homepage at www.mndnr.gov/cwd. From there, you can sign up for email updates when new information on CWD becomes available.