State wildlife officials report nine CWD positives; Concordia detection prompts emergency planning

Jonathan Bordelon of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries gave the task force an update on chronic wasting disease testing and response planning. Bordelon said the agency has collected about 2,800 samples with more than 2,300 results returned; of the resulted samples nine were positive, eight from Tinsall Parish and a newly confirmed positive from Concordia Parish that was verified by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory.

Bordelon said the Concordia detection invoked the department’s CWD response plan and that staff are finalizing a declaration of emergency to be implemented under the authority of the secretary and later approved by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. He described the next procedural step as a notice-of-intent rulemaking process that could adjust the control area boundaries and provide the public an opportunity to comment; typical timelines would aim for completed rules before the 2026–27 deer season, though Bordelon emphasized the situation remains preliminary while additional results are pending.

Members asked about symptomatic versus asymptomatic detections, sample origins and surveillance coverage; Bordelon stated roughly eight of the nine positives were from deer that did not display symptoms and that voluntary hunter-submitted samples remain the bulk of surveillance data. He also noted lab turnaround and pending results could change totals and urged caution in interpreting preliminary figures.

The task force received the report and proceeded to scheduled presentations from neighboring-state experts; the report did not include a formal policy action at the meeting.