USDA Provides Funding to Combat Chronic Wasting Disease in Minnesota

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is providing $546,535 in funding to help Minnesota combat Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a neurological disease that affects deer, elk, reindeer, and moose. It has been found in some areas of North America including Canada and the United States. The symptoms can take up to a year to develop in an infected animal and typically are associated with drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness, and other neurological symptoms.

It usually ends in death within two years of infection. CWD is contagious and fatal to animals.