Process to kill Aitkin elk to begin

ST. PAUL (AP) -- The 48 elk remaining at a farm near Aitkin where chronic wasting disease was discovered will be transported in small groups over several weeks to the University of Minnesota's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, where they will be euthanized, said Dr. Paul Anderson, a veterinarian and assistant director of the state Board of Animal Health.

The process could begin within the next week, he said.

"We're all in agreement that that herd will be euthanized," Anderson said.

Clayton Lueck, owner of the farm, will be paid for the elk by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Anderson said. He did not say how much Lueck would be paid. Under current law, when an elk herd is to be destroyed, the owner of the farm is eligible for up to $3,000 per animal.

One bull elk died from the disease in mid-August at the Lueck farm in the first case of chronic wasting disease identified in Minnesota. The disease affects both elk and deer and causes them to lose weight and eventually die.

No cases of chronic wasting disease have been found in Minnesota's wild deer herd, but state officials are killing deer near the farm to see if any have it, and will conduct statewide testing of deer killed by hunters this fall.

After the elk are euthanized, tissue samples will be taken from their brain stems and analyzed for chronic wasting disease. The tests will be conducted at a USDA lab in Ames, Iowa. Test results from the first animals destroyed will be available within about a week and will be made public as soon as they are known, Anderson said.

The elk carcasses will be held at the university until testing is completed, Anderson said. Those that are free from chronic wasting disease will be buried. Any animal that tests positive for chronic wasting disease will be incinerated, he said.

Lueck's herd has been quarantined since chronic wasting disease was found in the single bull elk. Two other farms, one in Stearns County and one in Benton County, also remain quarantined. The elk that died was born on one of the farms and spent time at the other.

The fate of those herds has not been decided and will hinge to a degree on what the tests on Lueck's herd show, Anderson said.