2nd CWD Case In Georgia Was 4 1/2-Year-Old Berrien County Buck

After three months of controlled deer sampling in the 1-mile radius (3,000 acres) of the first confirmed Georgia case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Lanier County, a second deer has tested positive in Berrien County only 400 yards from the first case. The newly diagnosed deer was an apparently healthy 4 1/2-year-old buck with no obvious clinical symptoms of CWD. It was taken near the Lanier-Berrien County line by a landowner permittee who was assisting with the ongoing sampling of DNR’s CWD response plan.

This response plan previously established a CWD Management Area to include the county where the positive sample was found and any county that touches a 5-mile radius around the location of the positive sample, which has included Lanier and Berrien counties.

Even though this second case was in Berrien County and not Lanier County like the first, DNR’s CWD Management Area remains unchanged because of the close proximity of the two harvest sites. DNR is working with landowners and hunters to determine the geographic extent and prevalence rate in that Management Area (i.e., how far it has spread and what percentage of deer have CWD). To keep prevalence low, additional deer are harvested around each CWD detection, as they are most likely to have been in contact with the positive deer.

Dr. Tina Johannsen, Assistant Chief of the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division Game Management Section, reiterated that these samplings, which include only 5 to 7 deer per herd, will be a negligible percentage of the population. There are still no plans to kill significantly high numbers of deer.

Charlie Killmaster, State Deer Biologist with DNR, said, “We have fully expected to find more cases in the 1-mile radius, so this second case is nothing alarming. The fact that the two confirmed cases were not showing any symptoms means that the prevalence of CWD is low, and ultimately that’s the goal.”

Since beginning the samplings in January, 26 deer have been tested in the two counties, while 13 deer have been tested in the 1-mile radius. The goal is to have 25 to 30 deer sampled in the 1-mile radius between January and the start of deer season. The deer tested include road kills, farm permits, heads from taxidermists and deer killed under special DNR permits.

Hunters and landowners do not need to do anything different than what has already been suggested after the initial positive case was discussed. Review the GA DNR’s website for detailed information and FAQs about CWD.

“Since the initial discovery of CWD, I view each new detection as a success for managing the disease,” said Charlie Killmaster, “Each CWD positive deer harvested reduces transmission to other deer, and we will continue to manage CWD and maintain healthy deer herds.”

For more information, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/CWD.