First case of chronic wasting disease suspected in Jackson County
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced today that a 3-year-old doe in Spring Arbor Township (Jackson County) is suspected positive for chronic wasting disease. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose.
Earlier this month, landowners in Jackson County contacted the DNR after a very ill-looking deer died on their property. DNR staff examined the deer to determine the cause of death and submitted tissue samples to Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. After initial tests were positive for CWD, samples were forwarded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory for confirmation. The DNR is awaiting those results.
Over 31,000 deer have been tested for the disease since May 2015. If confirmed by the federal lab, this would be the 58th CWD-positive deer in Michigan and the first in Jackson County. Chronic wasting disease already has been confirmed in Clinton, Ingham, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties.
For more information, please see the full release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
June 21, 2018
Contact: Kelly Straka, 517-336-5040