MADISON – Three more whitetail deer herds have been quarantined in the investigation of chronic wasting disease on a Portage County hunting preserve, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection announced today.
According to State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt, owners of the recently quarantined herds are believed to have bought animals from Richard Poff, Beloit, that were on his farm at the same time as a buck that he later sold to Buckhorn Flats Game Farm owner Stan Hall. That deer tested positive for CWD in October.
Poff’s herd also remains under quarantine. No animals have tested positive for CWD in his herd or the three newly quarantined ones. A quarantine does not mean that disease is present. Quarantines are issued to stop movement of live animals off farms while authorities examine records, talk with the owners, and determine whether the animals have been exposed to disease.
Owners of the newly quarantined herds are Timothy and Brenda Kline, Orfordville; Mark and Martin Stiemke, M & M Deer Farm, Concord; Charles Tomaszewski, Cassville.
There are now 16 Wisconsin herds under quarantines related to CWD. Seven are related to the three CWD cases found at Buckhorn Flats; two are herds that received elk from a Minnesota herd later found to be infected; seven are farms that lie within the Department of Natural Resources disease eradication zone in southwestern Wisconsin.