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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