DNR to collect deer heads for bovine TB testing

Indiana DNR Release:



State biologists plan to collect 650 deer heads from cooperating hunters during the opening weekend of the firearms season on Nov. 14 and 15 in order to test for the presence of bovine tuberculosis.

“This effort should go a long way in helping us find out if the disease has jumped the fence,” DNR deer management biologist Chad Stewart said. “Thankfully, we have not seen signs of the disease in our wild deer, and we hope that we don’t find it. This testing effort is a critical next step.”

Collection sites will be at the following deer check stations:

– Fayette County: Mustins Taxidermy, 1660 W. Fayette County Road 350 S, Connersville
– Franklin County: 52 Pik Up, 11183 U.S. 52, Brookville
– Franklin County: Lakeside Sunoco, 9193 Indiana 101, Brookville
– Harrison County: Gun World, 1548 Indiana 62 NW, Corydon
– Wayne County: Mendenhall True Value, 125 S W 5th St., Richmond

The biologists will be looking for heads from yearling and older deer. The target is 300 samples from both Franklin and Harrison counties, and 50 from Wayne County.

Hunters are not required to participate, but anyone hunting in those counties is encouraged to cooperate in order to ensure a comprehensive surveillance effort. Those who submit heads will be able to remove antlers from the sample.

Bovine TB is a chronic bacterial disease that affects primarily cattle, but can be transmitted by any warm-blooded animal. TB is difficult to diagnose through clinical signs alone.

The DNR has worked closely with the State Board of Animal Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on bovine TB surveillance ever since the disease was discovered in May at a captive cervid (deer and elk) facility in Franklin County. Two other captive cervid facilities–one in Harrison County and one in Wayne County–purchased animals from the Franklin County site that later tested positive for bovine TB.

All three facilities were quarantined by BOAH and have since been depopulated of all captive cervids.

The DNR contributed to the testing efforts by culling 30 wild white-tailed deer in the vicinity of the Franklin County cervid facility. Tissue samples from those 30 deer were culture tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, and came back negative for bovine TB.

Deer heads collected at the five check stations will be tagged for tracking purposes, bagged and shipped to Crosley Fish and Wildlife Area, where BOAH and USDA staff will remove several sets of lymph nodes. Some tissue samples will be sent to NVSL for bovine TB testing and others will go to the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University to augment the state’s ongoing testing for chronic wasting disease.

The DNR received a $100,000 federal grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to fund the bovine TB testing.