Wisconsin deer farm infected with fatal brain disease

The deer was culled from the herd at Thunder Trophy Whitetails farm in Washburn County

A Wisconsin deer farm has been placed under quarantine after a three-year-old doe became infected with a fatal brain disease.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture said last week that samples taken from the doe at the Thunder Trophy Whitetails farm in Washburn County had come back positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Federal and state agencies have started tracking the infection. CWD affects deer, elk and moose and it has been found in areas of Canada, the United States, Norway and South Korea.

Symptoms of the incurable disease include weight loss, loss of coordination, excessive salivation and neurological issues. It may take up to a year for an animal to begin exhibiting symptoms.

The infected doe at Thunder Trophy was transferred from the Rodenkirch Whitetails and Genetics farm on 4 October, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. At the time, the herd at both farms tested negative for CWD.

Thunder Trophy Whitetails has at least 300 deer across 150 acres. The infected deer has been culled from the herd.

Twenty-two deer farms have been forced to depopulate since CWD was first detected in Wisconsin in 2002, Fox News reported.

No treatments or vaccines exist for CWD. There have been no cases of CWD infection in people, but according to the CDC, some studies raise “concerns that there may also be a risk to people.”