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No deer tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB) in 2010, but surveillance efforts will continue in northwestern Minnesota when the firearms deer season opens Saturday, Nov. 5.
“We are encouraged by last year’s test results,” said Michelle Carstensen, wildlife health program director for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “If this fall’s testing efforts do not detect any more positive deer, that will build confidence that TB has been eliminated or is at an undetectable level.”
Hunters who harvest deer in deer permit area 101, also known as the bovine TB management area, must register their deer at one of six check stations so tissue samples can be taken for testing. Electronic registration via phone and Internet will not be available for hunters who indicated they would hunt in permit area 101 when purchasing a license.
Check stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily from Nov. 5 to Sunday, Nov. 20. Stations will be located at the Wannaska forestry office, Wannaska; Olson’s Skime Store, Skime; D&G Pro Station, Hayes Lake; Hayes Lake State Park; Grygla Sporting Goods, Grygla; Fourtown Store, Fourtown; and the Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area headquarters.
Hunters who harvest deer from surrounding deer permit areas also can register deer at these stations.
“Cooperation from northwestern Minnesota deer hunters has been excellent during the six years DNR has been testing for bovine TB,” Carstensen said. “Getting samples from surrounding areas outside the bovine TB management zone provides additional information that is extremely useful in our efforts to eradicate the disease in wild deer.”
All hunters who register deer at one of the six check stations will receive a DNR cooperator’s patch. Hunters who harvest a deer in permit area 101 also will be entered into a raffle for a lifetime hunting license and a Savage .270 bolt-action rifle. The Roseau River chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association purchased the prizes and is sponsoring the raffle.
This fall’s surveillance goal is to collect 500 samples for testing, Carstensen said. At least 200 of those samples should originate from within the core area of the disease management zone, a 164-square-mile area centered around Skime.
Since 2005, bovine TB – a progressive and chronic bacterial disease that primarily affects cattle but also wildlife – has been found in 12 cattle operations and 27 free-ranging deer in northwestern Minnesota. Nearly 10,000 deer have been tested during that time. Every deer that tested positive for bovine TB was taken within a 10-mile radius of Skime, with most recent discovery coming in 2009.
In response to the disease, DNR implemented liberal hunting seasons and deer population reduction efforts to significantly reduce the number of deer in the area and help minimize the potential spread of the disease from deer to deer.
Minnesota’s agricultural livestock status was recently upgraded to TB-free by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The change in accreditation is a positive step toward eradication, Carstensen said. But special testing requirements and movement restrictions for cattle in the bovine TB management zone remain.
“Last year’s results were encouraging,” Carstensen said. “But we need to increase our confidence that bovine TB has been eliminated or is at an undetectable level in the area’s wild deer herd.”
