Chronic Wasting Disease Found Near LA./Miss. Border
Chronic wasting disease in deer has been detected in Mississippi and Louisiana wildlife officials are concerned the fatal disease will end up in the Bayou State. A four-year-old buck was found dead of CWD near the Louisiana border.
State Wildlife Veterinarian, Dr. Jim LaCour says East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parish landowners should curtail feeding of deer.
"We don’t want to congregate those animals or draw them into an area and get them together where they could share the disease if they are infected.”
LaCour says a case of CWD has never been documented in Louisiana, but infected deer can spread the disease even before symptoms develop and it's something they don’t want in the Bayou State.
“Long term, it will cause a decrease in the deer herd, in the deer populations and survivability… overall health of the deer.”
C-W-D is similar to mad cow disease and LDWF is working with Mississippi wildlife officials on sampling and containment. LaCour says there’s no evidence CWD can infect humans, but there are concerns about eating deer that had the disease
“People consider deer to be a wholesome and organic food source and that would no longer necessarily be the case if Chronic Waste Disease was detected in an area.”