Louisiana
A disease that’s killing deer is the rise in Louisiana
Two years after it was first discovered in Louisiana, state wildlife officials have detected seven additional cases of Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal illness that has afflicted deer in more than 30 states.
There have now been 19 confirmed Louisiana cases of the disease, officials said Friday. CWD affects the nervous systems and brains of deer, elk moose and reindeer and can lead to erratic behavior, drooling and emaciation.
It is not believed to be a threat to humans or domesticated animals.
Biologists from Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have been on alert for the disease after a case was discovered in Mississippi’s Issaquena County in 2018, just across the Mississippi River from Tensas Parish. Two years before that, the disease had been found in a deer in Arkansas.
With its first confirmed case in January 2022, Louisiana joined a growing club of more than 30 states that have detected the disease.
Once this disease is discovered, it is extremely hard to eradicate, said Krysten Schuler, a Cornell University researcher who studies wildlife diseases.
“The best way to stop it is not to get it in the first place,” Schuler said.
The disease is easily transmitted among deer, elk and moose, but slow acting, she added.
“When a deer gets infected, it usually takes a year or two to die,” Schuler said. “It’s more likely to be killed by something else” like a predator or a car.
For a few years after the disease enters a population, the primary impact will be slowing deer population growth, Schuler said. But if the disease progresses, it can have a much greater effect on deer numbers.
After the discovery of the disease in 2022, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries declared an emergency and designated a CWD “control area,” which includes all of Tensas Parish and parts of Madison, Franklin and Concordia parishes.
Hunters in the control area are prohibited from hunting over bait such as grain or salt and are forbidden to take whole deer carcasses out of the area. They are free to transport deboned meat or other parts of the carcass under certain conditions.
Officials also put out coolers for hunters to drop off samples of the deer they killed for testing.
Since July 2023, state officials have collected approximately samples, the majority of those from deer killed by hunters. Five samples had been confirmed positive as of Jan. 23, with more expected from samples collected before Jan. 31, which was the end of deer season in the northeast part of the state.
All of the positive cases have been in Tensas Parish.
Despite its prevalence, Chronic Wasting Disease is largely mysterious to researchers, Schuler said.
“It’s hard,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of tools.”
Chronic Wasting Disease is caused by a mutated protein known as a prion, she said, and is the first known prion-caused disease in free-ranging wildlife. Other prion diseases include scrapie, which infects sheep, and mad cow disease.
The prion can be shed in saliva, urine or feces, Schuler said. Using grain or salt to lure deer can help the disease spread, she said, likening it to a salad bar where diners just lowered their faces into the serving bowls and ate.
“The pile of bait is problematic,” she said.
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When it comes to retiring, the best places to do so often are affordable, have a high quality of life and access to quality healthcare.
If you’re looking for a place to retire, Niche has identified the best places for retirees in Louisiana.
In its list, Niche has taken into account factors like weather, crime rates, housing costs and access to amenities.
The 5 best places to retire in Louisiana according to Niche
These are the top five best places to retire in Louisiana, according to Niche.
1. Oak Hills Place
Oak Hills Place is a suburb of Baton Rouge and is the overall best place to retire in Louisiana. This suburb, located in East Baton Rouge Parish, has a population of 9,038 and offers residents an urban suburban mix feel. The area is highly rated for families, diversity, as well as health and fitness. Here, the median home value is $437,900 and the median rent is $1,422, according to Niche.
2. Westminster
Westminster is another suburb of Baton Rouge and is the second-best place to retire in Louisiana. Located in East Baton Rouge Parish, this suburb has a population of 2,559 and offers residents an urban suburban mix feel. This area is highly rated for nightlife, diversity, families, health and fitness, as well as commute. The median home value here is $266,100 and the median rent is $1,482, says Niche.
3. River Ridge
River Ridge is a suburb of New Orleans, located in Jefferson Parish, and is the third-best place to retire in Louisiana. This suburb has a population of 13,312 and offers residents a dense suburban feel. The area is highly rated for public schools, family, nightlife and diversity. The median home value is $357,400 and the median rent is $1,127, according to Niche.
4. Westlake
Westlake is a town in Calcasieu Parish that is among the best places to retire in Louisiana. With a population of 4,743, this town offers residents a rural feel. The town is highly rated for public schools, housing, families, jobs, cost of living, nightlife and weather. Here, the median home value is $166,100 and the median rent is $1,049, says Niche.
5. Prien
Prien is another town in Calcasieu Parish that is among the best places to retire in Louisiana. This town has a population of 7,119 and offers residents a suburban rural mix feel. The town is highly rated for public schools, housing, families, nightlife and weather. The median home value here is $278,000 and the median rent is $1,292, according to Niche.
Presley Bo Tyler is the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team reporter for USA Today Network. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com
A motorcyclist is recovering after a West Monroe crash involving an 18-wheeler, while Chevron won a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling shifting a major coastal lawsuit back to lower courts. Ouachita deputies arrested a suspect and recovered more than a dozen guns, Mississippi passed a new school social-media safety requirement, and Louisiana’s House advanced a unanimous state budget. A new recovery center opened, and multiple weekend events are underway across northeast Louisiana, plus national updates include stock-market stress guidance, a Ford F-150 recall, Spirit Airlines uncertainty, and tax-refund tips.
The supreme court handed a win on Friday to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana.
The 8-0 procedural decision gives the companies a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to pay upward of $740m to clean up damage to the state’s coastline, one of multiple similar lawsuits.
Backed by the Trump administration, the companies argued the case belongs in federal court because they began oil production and refining during the second world war as US contractors. They deny responsibility for land loss in Louisiana and say it is wrong to sue them for what they did before state environmental regulations were in place.
Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 sq miles (5,180 sq km) of land over the past century, according to the US Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose an additional 3,000 sq miles (7,770 sq km) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.
The Republican governor, Jeff Landry, backed the lawsuits when he was attorney general, despite being a longtime oil and gas industry supporter. Attorneys for local Louisiana leaders say the supreme court appeal was a stalling tactic.
The companies appealed to the high court after jurors in Plaquemines parish – a sliver of land straddling the Mississippi River into the Gulf – found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands affected by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.
The case is one of dozens of lawsuits filed in 2013 alleging oil giants including Chevron and Exxon violated state environmental laws for decades.
The companies asked the justices to overturn a 2024 decision from the US court of appeals for the fifth circuit that allowed the suit to stay in state court.
Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, saying he had financial ties to ConocoPhillips. He had recused himself from other cases due to his stock holdings.
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