Deadly deer disease threatens Georgia population
Jul. 17—South Georgia deer hunters should be on high alert this fall for deer that may be infected with a deadly disease identified recently in North Florida.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced last month that it detected chronic wasting disease, or CWD, in a road-killed deer in Holmes County, Florida, which borders Alabama and is less than 50 miles from the Georgia border. It was the first deer to test positive for the disease in Florida, a release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said.
The disease hasn't been confirmed in Georgia yet.
"The department is prepared and will work diligently to implement its CWD response protocol if the disease is ever detected in Georgia," the release said.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk and moose caused by infectious proteins called prions, the release said. There are currently no treatments, and the disease always leads to death.
The likelihood it makes its way here is high, said Charlie Killmaster, state deer biologist for DNR. That is in part because many of the deer carrying CWD aren't showing symptoms.
"It has a very long incubation period of eight to 24 months," Killmaster said. "That's why it can go undetected for long periods of time like it has in other areas."
If it is detected in Georgia, wildlife officials with DNR have a plan that will include intensive testing around where the positive deer was found or harvested, and in some cases limiting deer movement or removing potentially infected animals.
Killmaster said most deer that test positive will look healthy, which is why DNR is encouraging all hunters to get their meat tested before consuming it. To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been no reported cases of infections in humans, but Killmaster said it's better to be safe than sorry.
"We don't think it's transmissible to humans, but it is similar to mad cow disease, so we do recommend using caution," he said.
Do not eat deer if they have tested positive, he said.
It's a precaution Killmaster took himself after harvesting an elk in Colorado, where CWD is known to exist in mule deer, elk and other species. He had the elk meat tested before consuming any of it.
Hunters should be aware of the disease because many infected deer are in the early stages of CWD, so they look completely normal, Killmaster said. Over time, however, symptoms like dramatic weight loss, poor body condition, subtle head tremors, droopy ears and head, and in the final stages, excessive drooling, are visible.
The case in Florida made it the 30th state to have confirmed cases of CWD.
White-tailed deer are the most hunted animal in Georgia. The DNR numbers show more than 200,000 hunters killed nearly 260,000 deer in the state during the 2021-2022 hunting season.
Those hunters can help prevent the spread of CWD by following the laws that prohibit importation of any live deer species from other states and that do not allow bringing carcasses in from out of state, the release about CWD said.
