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University researchers find CWD prions at Beltrami County study site; environmental sampling ongoing
Summary
University of Minnesota researchers reported multiple chronic wasting disease (CWD)–positive carcasses and environmental detections at an 11-acre public-land disposal site in Beltrami County and described ongoing soil and sediment testing to track contamination and persistence.
Mark Schwablander, an associate director at the University of Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach (MINPRO), told the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners that university researchers detected CWD-positive deer remains and environmental prion contamination at a public-land disposal site tied to a quarantined captive herd.
The finding matters because CWD is fatal to cervids and prions can persist in soil and sediment for years, the researchers said. The university team presented results from systematic carcass searches, tissue testing and environmental sampling at the 11-acre site, and outlined next steps for repeated sampling and assay optimization.
The researchers said the site was linked to a quarantined captive deer herd that, in 2021, tested positive after state action. "In April 2021 there was confirmation of chronic wasting disease in an animal in that herd," Schwablander said, and the herd was subsequently depopulated. The herd owner told investigators that carcasses had been taken to the public land for disposal, and that prompted the study and a DNR exclusionary…
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