On August 25, Michigan became the 15th state to discover the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) within its borders. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) identified the disease in a female three-year-old white-tailed deer born and raised on a privately owned cervid (POV) facility in Kent County.

As part of the DNR's rapid implementation of the 2002 Michigan Surveillance and Response Plan for CWD, an immediate and complete quarantine was placed on the nearly 600 POV facilities in Michigan. The quarantine bans the movement or transportation of all privately owned cervids (deer, elk and moose), dead or alive. The DNR also depopulated the Kent County facility within 26 hours of identifying the infected doe. Surprisingly, no additional animals from the facility tested positive for CWD.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture was able to identify and sample two other POV facilities that had received deer from the infected facility. Fortunately, all samples taken from the two traced facilities tested negative for CWD.

Also affected under provisions of the state's CWD response plan was an immediate ban on all baiting and feeding of deer and elk in Michigan's Lower Peninsula, in order to reduce the threat of disease transmission between animals congregating at feeding sites. The DNR currently is attempting to collect 300 additional deer samples from areas in proximity to the Kent County facility, to determine if wild deer have contracted the disease. Furthermore, the DNR will be expanding their surveillance efforts in the near future to determine if and where the disease is present in statewide deer populations.

"We've been lucky so far," commented Dr. Dan O'Brien, DNR wildlife veterinarian. "We're all hoping that this situation unfolds similarly to how it did in Minnesota." On August 29, 2002, CWD was found in a single animal on one central Minnesota captive elk facility. Since then, no additional CWD-infected cervids, captive or wild, have been found in that state, despite rigorous disease surveillance efforts by the Minnesota DNR. Two other states, Montana and Oklahoma, have also managed to keep CWD within POV facilities and out of wild populations.

"It's still early, though," cautions Dr. Steven Schmitt, veterinarian in charge at the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory. "We will get a better idea of how the situation stands once we begin receiving samples from hunter-killed animals." The Michigan DNR has placed numerous check stations in an approximate 325-square-mile CWD surveillance zone in northern Kent County. Hunters who harvest deer within the nine townships included in the surveillance zone will be required to check their deer at one of these stations. After DNR officials collect a harvested animal's head for testing, the hunter will not be permitted to retain anything except antlers with a clean skullcap, clean cape and de-boned meat. However, hunters will be given the option of storing their deer in refrigerated trucks at the check stations within the surveillance zone until notification of negative CWD tests results have been received from DNR Wildlife Disease Lab.

"We are really depending on hunters to cooperate in all areas of the state, by submitting their deer to check stations inside and outside the surveillance area," said O'Brien. Public and hunter support for the DNR's response to the situation appears to be largely positive. At a September 9 town hall meeting in Grand Rapids, nearly 150 people attended to hear DNR staff provide information updates and answer questions regarding CWD. "Public support was generally strong," said O'Brien. "Our hope is to maintain cooperation with [the public] as the situation continues to plays out."

"In general, it seems that the public has become more comfortable with the issues surrounding CWD," observed Tia Kropf-Beringer, website content manager for the CWD Alliance. Since the discovery of CWD in Michigan, Kropf-Beringer has seen a substantial increase in daily visits to the CWD Alliance Website (http://www.cwd-info.org) but very few e-mails from people especially concerned about the situation. "I think Michigan has done a first-rate job of providing the right type of information at the right location," said Kropf-Beringer. "Folks are getting their CWD-related questions answered."

The DNR has developed a CWD information Website at which CWD news, current updates, regulations, brochure, and FAQ sheets can be accessed electronically. In addition, to facilitate distribution of CWD information throughout the state, the DNR has coordinated a communications action plan with Michigan State University, Michigan Deer and Elk Breeders, Michigan United Conservation Clubs and other nongovernmental organizations.

For more information regarding CWD in Michigan, please go to http://www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases/0,1607,7-186-25806---,00.html. For other questions regarding CWD generally and nationwide, go to http://www.cwd-info.org. (mcd)