On Aug. 25, the state departments of Agriculture (MDA) and Natural Resources (DNR) received the bad news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services lab in Ames, Iowa: the first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a white-tailed deer in Michigan had been verified.

The animal, a three-year-old doe, was a lifelong resident of a captive breeding facility in Kent County, according to the farm's records.

CWD, which attacks a cervid's central nervous system, is always fatal to deer and elk. The disease is similar to mad cow disease in cattle -- a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy -- but unlike mad cow, it has not been shown to be transmissible to humans.

Wildlife officials have known about the disease, which was first discovered in captive mule deer in a Colorado facility, for four decades. Despite significant testing, Michigan farm and wildlife officials have never found CWD in either captive or wild deer or elk -- until now.

As soon as the test result was received, DNR and MDA enacted Michigan's Response Plan for Chronic Wasting Disease of Free-Ranging and Privately Owned Captive Cervids. The plan was created by MDA and the DNR and adopted in 2002.

DNR Director Rebecca Humphries immediately began calling key conservation club officials, informing them of the test results and explaining how DNR planned to proceed.

In fact, state officials already had sprung into action. As soon as lab results in Michigan identified the deer as a CWD suspect -- four days before the official word came from the USDA -- DNR and MDA personnel visited the facility, checking the integrity of the facility's fence, serving quarantine papers to the owner, beginning to trace shipments of deer from and into the facility, and preparing quarantine papers for captive cervid operations that had traded with the Kent County facility. DNR conservation officers also increased surveillance of other facilities across the state.

A little more than 24 hours after receiving official confirmation of CWD in the deer, the facility had been depopulated by USDA personnel. All of the deer carcasses were transported to MSU's Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health for testing.

While the on-site team was culling the deer and preparing them for transport in a refrigerated truck to MSU, other DNR biologists and law enforcement personnel served quarantine papers to more than 550 captive deer and elk operations around the state so that movement of live animals would not jeopardize the health of animals in other facilities. By the morning of Aug. 27, the entire captive cervid industry in Michigan had been informed of the quarantine.

"Any disease that gets into wildlife is difficult to manage, especially CWD," said Dr. Steve Schmitt, DNR wildlife veterinarian. "No state has ever been able to eliminate it once it is established in the wild deer population. So it's prevention, prevention, prevention. At this point it is only in the captive facility and we want to do everything we can to prevent it from getting into the wild herd."

Other actions specified in the 2002 plan that were immediately taken included: an immediate six-month ban on feeding and baiting deer in the Lower Peninsula; disallowing the rehabilitation of deer statewide; and the creation of a CWD surveillance zone around the facility where the deer was found.

According to the plan, the DNR will increase CWD surveillance of wild deer in this zone -- which includes nine townships in Kent County -- by testing as many deer as possible, including fresh road kills.

Wildlife officials announced they would issue disease-control permits for landowners who wanted them in the affected townships. There is mandatory deer check for deer taken by hunters this season in the CWD Surveillance area and DNR began setting up check stations for the early antlerless-only season, which began Sept. 18.

The DNR also announced that discounted antlerless licenses are available for Kent County (DMU 041). In addition, replacement tags are available for hunters who kill deer exhibiting CWD symptoms.

"If this was going to be done in a timely matter, we were going to have to step up," Schmitt continued. "None of us wants to look back at this event 25 years from now and say, 'I wish we had done this.' We want to do everything in our power to prevent it from becoming established in the wild. That's why we're following out pre-established plan to the letter."

For the past several years, the DNR has annually tested roughly 1,300 deer statewide for CWD. Schmitt said the agency will increase that to at least 8,000 this year, and will encourage hunters to visit a check station this fall with their deer to ensure adequate samples for testing.

The DNR and MDA immediately began planning town hall meetings for hunters and landowners to help get the word out on the emergency regulations and actions. The first meeting was held Sept. 9 in Grand Rapids. More meetings will be held throughout the state over the next several weeks.

No wild animal is more important to or more symbolic of Michigan's heritage than the white-tailed deer, the state's official mammal. Yet in captivity, these deer are considered livestock, similar to cattle. Some of the authority to regulate deer farms falls under the MDA, such as animal health and welfare, which includes testing and quarantines. The DNR is responsible for registering the facilities, inspecting fences to ensure bio-security and auditing records to ensure that proper training of animal movement can be done when needed.

It is critical to reiterate that there is no evidence that humans are susceptible to CWD. Similarly, there is no evidence that CWD can spread from cervids to cattle or other livestock. However, health officials recommend that meat from infected animals not be eaten as a precaution.

For more about CWD and the state's CWD emergency response plan, go online to www.michigan.gov/chronicwastingdisease.