Georgia DNR confirms first chronic wasting disease detection; response plan activated

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed this week that a hunter-harvested white-tailed deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease, or CWD, after confirmation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa. The deer was taken in late November near the Lanier–Berrien County line, and DNR officials said they immediately activated the agency’s CWD response plan.

Commissioner (Georgia Department of Natural Resources) told the committee the positive result came from routine surveillance and that the department has collected samples statewide since 2002. “I want to first and foremost assure you and our hunters that deer hunting will continue to thrive in this state,” the Commissioner said, while noting the department is moving into an intensive, localized response.

Dr. Tina Johansson, assistant chief of game management in DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division, described CWD as a neurological disease caused by a misfolded prion protein that affects members of the deer family. “It has about an 18 to a…