State Reports Second Case Of Chronic Wasting Disease
By David Howell
Editor
JACKSON – A second case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a whitetail deer in Mississippi is suspected after a deer in Pontotoc County tested positive last week. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) reported that a 1.5 year-old male whitetail deer that was collected on October 8 tested positive for the deadly neurological disease that affects elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and moose.
MDWFP reported that a second sample from the deer will be shipped to the National Veterinary Sciences Laboratory in Iowa for a definitive test. The agency will await final results before implementing the agency’s CWD Response Plan.
The news follows an earlier confirmed case in January, the first in Mississippi, when a four and half year-old buck found dead by hunters in Issaquena County near Vicksburg tested positive for CWD. The discovery makes Mississippi the 23rd state in the country with the disease that is fatal to whitetail deer.
Following that discovery, MDWFP launched their response plan that included testing 481 samples of deer within a 25-mile radius of where the buck in Issaquena County was found. There were no additional cases of CWD discovered in the area during the sampling.
Also in response to the first CWD case, MDWFP rolled out an aggressive plan to sample 5,000 deer across the state during the 2018-19 hunting season.
Speaking at a luncheon at the VEC at the Enid Lake Fish Hatchery in Yalobusha County back in August, MDWFP Biologist John Gruchy said his agency, in conjunction with Mississippi State University, plans to sample 2,000 deer from portions in the state west of Interstate 55 and 2,000 from areas east of the interstate. The MDWFP plan also includes testing 1,000 deer from six counties in the Delta where the state’s first confirmed case of CWD was discovered. This plan will likely expand and include additional samples in a 25-mile radius of where the Pontotoc County deer was discovered if the case is confirmed.
Gruchy reported testing across the state will include deer harvested by hunters, road kill deer and reports of sick deer in the state. MDWFP will have drop-off stations across the state where hunters can bring their deer to allow the agency to obtain tissue samples to test for CWD. The drop-off points include a site in Yalobusha County at the MDWFP North Region Office located at 457 CR 36 at Enid Lake. The site will be open during peak hunting periods (Saturday, Nov. 17; Friday, Nov. 23; Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 29 and 30 and Jan. 5 and 6).
At the drop-off points, freezers will be on-site and hunters are asked to deposit deer heads in them. The department requests that at least six inches of neck be attached to the head and they be kept cool prior to depositing them. Antlers may be removed beforehand. Hunters can also bring the entire animal to the station to have the sample pulled. The test used to determine the presence of CWD requires a portion of the deer’s brainstem or lymph nodes. There are a total of 14 drop-off points across the state.
Gruchy also said anyone who spots a sick deer can report it to MDWFP by calling 1-800 BE SMART.
