News & Perspective

The case raises concerns about the state's feeding program, which attracts thousands of elk.

The 27 detections from the 2019 hunting season were confined to southeastern Minnesota.

"We know almost nothing about sexual transmission and prion diseases," one expert says.

Earlier sites of CWD prion transmission in Minnesota have links to cervid farms.

Officials report new CWD cases in previously unaffected parts of Texas and Montana.

"Seeing a deer test positive for CWD west of the continental divide again is concerning."

As risk areas expand, the CWD regulation updates will apply to more Minnesota hunters this season.

"Relying on the current tests is too late," one expert says, as dead deer might already be shedding infectious prions.

The Virginia finding is 40 miles from any other detections in the area.