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JACKSON — Rifle season is here and hunters have already made a strong effort to submit more samples for Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance. Chronic Wasting Disease is a 100 percent, always fatal disease caused by an infectious prion in deer and other members of the cervidae family. 

Since the opening day of the September Velvet hunting season, hunters have submitted 1,403 samples for testing and six positives have been detected. Since November 15, hunters have turned in 504 samples for CWD testing. Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks sends these samples to the Mississippi State University Veterinary and Diagnostics Lab in Pearl to be tested. Mississippi has detected 213 positives since first detection in 2017. 

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reports similar success at the start of their deer season. Deer Program Manager Johnathan Bordelon said Louisiana’s harvests are off to a fast start. 

CWD samples are being gathered from Thanksgiving weekend but they have collected 1,046 samples thus far with more samples in hand that have not been counted. 

In the sampling season of Fiscal Year 2024 Louisiana has detected two positives. One was a pre-season symptomatic positive and the other was a hunter harvested positive. Bordelon said the positive detection zone has not grown.  

“The positives were within Tensas Parish in close proximity to previous detections,” Bordelon said. 

Samples from Thanksgiving weekend will be entered and shipped by Wednesday to the Louisiana State University Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Bordelon said last weekend was one of the busier sampling weekends due to statewide seasons opening and WMA managed deer hunts going well. 

Remember portions of Concordia Parish north and east of US 425 and US84 are in the Chronic Wasting Disease Zone while portions to the west are not in the zone. Deer heads and carcases can not leave this control zone nor can hunters supplementally feed in the control zone. 

Why CWD matters

Chronic Wasting Disease prions are shed into the environment in the bodily fluids of infected deer. Healthy deer can become infected by indirect contact with these prions in the soil or direct contact with an infected deer. Prions persist in the environment for a long period of time long after a CWD infected deer dies. 

Deer do not show symptoms of CWD until the later stages of the disease which could be 12 to 18 months after they become infected which is why it is important for deer to be tested. The Center for Disease Control reports there are no CWD cases in humans from eating positive deer meat but it doesn’t mean the disease can’t spread to humans. It is best to avoid eating meat of a CWD positive deer.

More sampling is needed to determine where Chronic Wasting Disease is on the landscape to better mitigate the spread of the disease before prevalence rates get too high. Claiborne County likely has CWD on the landscapes with results from tested scrapes showing CWD prions are present there. Claiborne County is right across the river from Tensas Parish and deer are able to cross the river. 

CWD samples can be dropped off at self serve coolers around the state or participating taxidermists. The closest drop-off cooler to Adams County is in Natchez at Bob M. Dearing State Park. Concordia Parish’s closest drop off is at the Louisiana Department of Transportation Maintenance Facility at 2201 E. E. Wallace Boulevard in Ferriday. Another cooler is on the Richard K. Yancey WMA south of Vidalia on Louisiana 15.  

Report your harvests

Hunters in Mississippi have reported 1,247 deer harvests on GameCheck. Data collected from GameCheck is used by MDWFP biologists to better manage the deer herd on a local level. Hunters are encouraged to report their deer harvest on the MDWFP website or mobile phone app to help manage the deer herd. Adams County leads the state in deer harvest reports with 58.

Help local food banks

Mississippi has a program called Hunter’s Harvest where Deer hunters are able to donate deer meat through participating processors to the Mississippi Food Network. In a year where the MDWFP encourages hunters to utilize their deer tags there is no better time to donate a deer to those in need. Louisiana has a similar program called Hunters for the Hungry.