Media release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources:
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Wildlife Resources Division confirmed a second deer has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). The deer, a 4.5 year-old male, was taken in Berrien County approximately 400 yards from the first CWD-positive deer harvest location. The deer was taken by a landowner permittee assisting with ongoing sampling as part of DNR’s CWD response plan.
“Our staff continues to work in collaboration with landowners and hunters in the CWD Management Area to sample for the disease. These collaborative efforts will help us manage CWD and ensure Georgia maintains healthy deer herds,” said DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon.
What is Being Done?
The CWD Management Area includes the county where positive samples are found and any county that touches a 5-mile radius around the location of positive samples. Because this new positive deer was taken near the first positive, DNR’s CWD Management Area remains the same, consisting of Lanier and Berrien counties. DNR is working with landowners and hunters to determine the geographic extent and prevalence rate in that Management Area (i.e., how far it has spread and what percent of deer have CWD). To keep prevalence low, additional deer are harvested around each CWD detection as they are most likely to have been in contact with the positive deer.
What is CWD?
CWD was first discovered in 1967 in Fort Collins, Colorado. CWD is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk, and moose caused by infectious, misfolded proteins called prions. There are no current treatments or preventative vaccines.
CWD in deer, elk, and/or moose has been reported in 36 states and 5 Canadian provinces. For up-to-date information on where CWD has been found, please visit cwd-info.org.
There is no known transmission of CWD to humans. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that hunters harvesting a deer, elk, or moose from an area where CWD is known to be present have their animal tested for CWD prior to consuming the meat and do not consume the meat if the animal tests positive.
For more information on Chronic Wasting Disease and Georgia’s management efforts, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/CWD.
