Georgia

First case of fatal neurological disease found in Georgia White-Tailed Deer

Published

8 months ago

January 23, 2025

First case of fatal neurological disease found in Georgia White-Tailed Deer

LANIER COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) – Lanier and Berrien Counties are now considered “Chronic Wasting Disease” management areas by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This declaration comes after a two-and-a-half-year-old male white-tailed deer, harvested on private property in Lanier County, tested positive for the fatal disease at the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories. This is the first case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) detected in Georgia.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease?

According to the Georgia DNR, CWD was first discovered in 1967 in Fort Collins, Colorado. CWD is a neurological disease caused by natural proteins called “prions.” It is not caused by a virus, and has no treatment or vaccine. Georgia DNR reports that CWD is in the same family of diseases as “mad cow disease,” but has never been documented in people.

Can other animals can get CWD?

Georgia DNR says that CWD “doesn’t appear to naturally infect pets, cattle, or other livestock.” However, other types of deer, including elk and moose, are at risk. The disease can spread between deer through saliva, urine, and feces.

What does CWD look like?

According to the USDA, the following symptoms in a deer could indicate CWD:

Weight loss
Frequent urination
Poor coordination
Drooping ears
Drooling
Difficulty swallowing
Aspiration pneumonia

How did the disease get to Georgia?

Georgia DNR says there are several possibilities, including the illegal importation of live deer. The disease could also have spread from an undiscovered pocket of CWD in another state, or carcass parts from another state were discarded in the area.

What does this mean for hunters/landowners?

To prevent further spread of the disease, Georgia DNR says hunters and landowners should:

Not move live deer. Moving live deer is the greatest risk for introducing CWD to new areas.
Dispose of carcasses properly and don’t bring whole carcasses into Georgia from out of state or move whole carcasses outside the CWD Management Area. Any carcass parts you don’t intend to consume should be left on the property where the deer was killed, sent to a landfill, or buried.
Report sick or abnormal deer to your nearest WRD Game Management Office.
Avoid consuming a deer that tests positive for CWD. Georgia DNR says if you hunt in the CWD management area, the CDC recommends testing deer before consuming them.

What’s next for GA DNR now that there’s a positive CWD case?

According to Georgia DNR, “The critical next step is 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). The Department will do that with landowner cooperation through ‘cluster sampling’ in the immediate area.”

Georgia DNR plans to hold a press conference Friday, Jan. 24 to answer any lingering questions that landowners and hunters might have about the disease.

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Related Topics:cdc CDW county deer department disease DNR Featured Georgia georgia department of ag hunting Lanier natural news of resources tailed USDA walb white wildlife

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Georgia

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

Published

6 days ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

The SEC has announced the future Georgia football conference opponents for the 2026 through 2029 seasons.

Georgia will face Florida, South Carolina and Auburn every season. The SEC announced on Friday that the annual opponents will be revisited every four seasons.

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule

2026: Florida (Atlanta), at South Carolina, Auburn, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vanderbilt
2027: Florida (Tampa), South Carolina, at Auburn, at Kentucky, at Texas, at Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee
2028: Florida (Jacksonville), at South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Oklahoma, at Missouri, at Vanderbilt
2029: Florida (Jacksonville), South Carolina, at Auburn, Kentucky, Texas, Texas A&M, at LSU, at Mississippi State, at Tennessee

“it’s hard. I mean, it’s brutal. And everybody’s the same,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday night. “I mean, we all gotta play each other. It’s really tough, highly ranked teams, physical teams. It’s just going to continue to be a grind. I mean, looking forward with the nines coming, it’s going to be scary because you just don’t have enough. Nobody has enough depth.”

Dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in December, according to the conference. The schedules will be flipped in 2028 and 2029 from the home-road splits in 2026 and 2027.

In its scheduling outline, the SEC made it clear it wants competitively balanced schedules, which will be determined using the entire schedule and not just the annual opponents. Tennessee reportedly will face Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in each of the next four years. The latter two are not exactly football powerhouses.

According to the SEC, the highest opponent average winning percentage for any school in the 2026-29 schedules is 55.67% while the lowest is 46.65%, a difference of only 9.02%. From 2020 through 2023 — when the league still used the divisional format — the highest winning percentage was 61.32% and the lowest was 39.76%.

In addition to nine conference games, the SEC stipulates that schools face one Power Four in its nonconference scheduling.

Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech satisfies that requirement. Georgia has future nonconference games against Louisville, Florida State, Clemson and Ohio State on its schedule for the time being.

As it stands, Georgia has 13 games scheduled for the 2025 season. The Bulldogs have nonconfernce games against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Georgia Tech.

“We’re working through that right now, and a lot of that’s going to be determined as we learn when and where our schedule is going to be in the next few weeks,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “But that’s something we’re attacking right now to see what our options are going to be in 2026. So we’re going to take it one year at a time right now. The first focus is going to be on 2026 and then 2027 and moving on. So still a lot of work to be done, and I work closely with Coach Smart and Mark Robinson and the league to kind of figure out what is that going to mean for our schedule moving forward.”

Georgia takes on Alabama this week, with the game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Georgia

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

The grounds for his arrest are still unknown, even to his attorneys.

Screenshot of Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, in his documentary series on Free TV.

(photo credit: COURTESY OF FREE TV VIA MAARIV)

ByYOAV ETIEL, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 01:43

Updated: SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 02:03

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Georgia

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

We’re back for another week of college football action and the slate is loaded, including three games between ranked opponents.

Here’s how to watch in Week 3. Scroll down for live scores, highlights and more.

Here are the best games this Saturday:

Clemson at Georgia Tech (+3), Noon ET, ESPN: The Tigers are just 3-point favorites ahead of their first road game. It’s a sign that expectations for Clemson have been way off. With Haynes King back, the Yellow Jackets will want to keep it on the ground.

Georgia at Tennessee (+4), 3:30 p.m., ABC: Has Georgia’s offense been good enough ahead of this pivotal SEC game? Saturday is the day to air it out as Tennessee will be without its top two corners again.

South Florida at Miami (-17.5), 4:30 p.m., The CW: The Bulls are the surprise team so far this season. Can they pull off a third straight upset, or will the ‘Canes handle business?

Florida at LSU (-7), 7:30 p.m., ABC: This game was going to be the day’s marquee matchup before Florida’s loss to USF. A Florida victory would certainly quiet the idea that Billy Napier is on the hot seat.

Texas A&M at Notre Dame (-6.5), 7:30 p.m., NBC: Aggies QB Marcel Reed has thrown for seven TDs so far and A&M’s offense has racked up 953 total yards. The Irish will surely try to get the ball to their star running backs after a subpar opener.

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