Hunters asked to be on the lookout for deer exhibiting signs of chronic wasting disease

yrjö jyske / CC

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is asking deer hunters to be on the lookout for deer exhibiting signs of chronic wasting disease.

This, as a deer at a captive deer farm in Jeff Davis Parish tested positive for the disease last month.

“In response to that detection, we’re looking to sample deer in southwest Louisiana in close proximity to Jeff Davis Parish, since we know the disease has been detected there,” says Johnathan Bordelon, deer program manager at LDWF.

“The disease is 100% fatal,” Bordelon notes. “The disease has also been detected in Louisiana. That first detection occurred in January of 2022 in Tensas Parish.”

Chronic wasting disease is highly transmissible.

“The disease is mostly spread from deer to deer,” Bordelon says. “It can also be transmitted from deer to the environment, and then from the environment to deer.”

Bordelon says deer which are infected with chronic wasting disease undergo changes in behavior.

“Often, they’ll even quit forraging (and) have difficulty swallowing, which leads to emaciation,” says Bordelon. “Of course, there are a lot of other diseases that mimic the same signs and symptoms. The only way to know for sure is if we test the animals.”

Therefore, Bordelon says if people encounter a deer exhibiting signs of chronic wasting disease, they should not take matters into their own hands.

They should contact the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and let them handle it.