
With the detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a deer, Mecosta County becomes the 14th Michigan county to report the fatal neurodegenerative illness, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported yesterday.
The buck was harvested in Millbrook Township in the west-central part of the state. Neighboring Montcalm County has reported 167 CWD cases. The DNR conducted intensive CWD surveillance in Mecosta County from 2017 to 2019, testing more than 5,600 deer but finding no positive cases.
"The expansion of CWD to Mecosta County is consistent with the slow spread we've seen throughout Michigan, especially since the CWD-positive animal was harvested near confirmed cases in adjacent Montcalm County," Chad Fedewa, MS, acting DNR deer, elk, and moose management specialist, said in the news release.
CWD, which affects cervids such as white-tailed deer, elk, and moose, is caused by infectious misfolded proteins called prions.
307 cases in state's free-ranging deer
After initial surveillance in areas near the first CWD detections in Michigan, the DNR began taking a rotational approach to testing in 2021. Each year, a group of counties is chosen, with the goal of testing deer in every county in the state.