CWD detections in 2018 will prompt baiting and feeding ban in Racine County and renew ban in Walworth County

Contact(s): Tami Ryan, 414-750-8360, DNR wildlife health section chief

[CORRECTION: This news release has been updated to clarify the baiting and feeding ban will go into affect in Racine County as well as being extended in Walworth County.]

MADISON - Following positive test results for chronic wasting disease in wild whitetail deer during the 2018 deer hunting seasons, a baiting and feeding ban in Racine County will be effective Feb. 1, 2019. This positive detection also renews a three-year baiting and feeding ban in Walworth County, effective Feb. 1, 2019.

DNR staff received notification of positive CWD test results for a wild deer in Illinois within 10 miles of the Wisconsin-Illinois border. State law requires that the Wisconsin DNR enact a ban on feeding and baiting of deer within a county or adjacent county within a 10-mile radius of a captive or free-roaming domestic or wild deer that tests positive for CWD or tuberculosis.

It is important to note that Racine and Walworth counties are already designated as CWD-affected due to prior CWD positive detections.

The DNR will continue surveillance near these CWD positive detection locations. Collecting CWD samples is important for assessing the potential geographic distribution and prevalence of the disease.

For more information regarding baiting and feeding regulations and CWD in Wisconsin, visit the department's website, dnr.wi.gov, and search keywords "bait" and "CWD" respectively.