No Reg Changes For New Georgia CWD Zone

DNR held a press conference Friday, Jan. 24 to discuss Georgia’s first case of CWD. A 2 1/2-year-old hunter-harvested buck tested positive for CWD during standard random testing.

With Georgia’s first case of Chronic Wasting Disease confirmed in a hunter-harvested buck killed in Lanier County, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources held a press conference in Tifton today Jan. 24, 2025). The key speaker was Dr. Tina Johannsen, Assistant Chief of the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division Game Management Section.

Dr. Johannsen began the talk by explaining the CWD disease process and what the GA DNR has been doing since 2002 to monitor Georgia for exposure. In 2019, a risk-based surveillance method developed by Cornell University was implemented in Georgia, and because of this surveillance, the first positive result was collected this year.

The deer was a 2.5-year-old buck killed on Nov. 30, 2024, by a hunter on private land in Lanier County near the Berrien-Lanier line. The samples were collected on Dec. 1, and confirmation from the lab was reported this week. The buck was apparently healthy with no obvious signs of CWD. (Again, this positive CWD sample came from the standard statewide surveillance program.)

The GA DNR activated a response plan immediately and met with the hunter. This response plan 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. Therefore, Lanier and Berrien counties are now labeled as a CWD Management Area. The GA DNR will work directly with the landowners in a 1-mile radius (3,000 acres) of the positive case to begin sampling the herds. Dr. Johannsen emphasized that these samplings, which will include only five to seven deer per herd, will be a negligible percentage of the population. There are no plans to kill significantly high numbers of deer.

The surveillance system will still plan on using hunter-killed deer (when the season returns), deer killed from crop damage permits, and road kills. The GA DNR works closely with deer processors and taxidermists to obtain much of their information (as was the situation in this case).

Hunters in these two counties will not experience any regulatory changes. Baiting is still allowed, but there are recommendations to potentially reduce the spread of disease, like broadcasting feed over a larger area instead of pouring into piles or feeders.

After the first positive case of CWD in a Georgia deer, DNR has established a CWD Management Zone that encompasses Lanier and Berrien counties.

Dr. Johannsen was clear in stating that Georgians should continue to hunt deer like they always have, with a few minor recommendations to consider (like above).

Since CWD is caused by a prion, which is a misfolded protein that leads to brain damage, it is impossible to eradicate. It can survive in the environment for long periods of time. Only extremely high temperatures destroy the protein, so controlled burns will likely not be effective at reducing the spread. The primary way CWD is transmitted is through bodily secretions of affected deer, even from deer not showing any symptoms, and symptoms may take 18 to 24 months to arise. The disease is 100% fatal to deer.

Cooking the meat will not deactivate prions, and even though there has never been a diagnosed case in a human since its discovery in Colorado in 1967, the CDC advises out of caution to not eat the meat of affected deer. Find out more CWD information on the CDC’s website.

There are currently no approved tests for CWD in meat, so if in doubt, discard the meat in regular household trash which will go to the landfills. The only approved tests use brain and lymph tissue for diagnosis.

Thankfully, CWD has never been detected in pets or livestock, including goats, so there are no concerns at this time in any animals other than members of the deer family.

The GA DNR encourages all Georgians to help by reporting sick deer; office locations and phone numbers can be found on their website. By next deer season, Georgia will have testing sites set up to facilitate the testing process. Deer processors will still operate like normal. For now, the responsibility will be on the hunters to have their harvested deer tested, a turnaround time of approximately two to three weeks.

“It’s all about management, and it’s a long-term process,” Dr. Johannsen reiterated. “As the 36^th state to diagnose CWD, we have been able to see other states’ successful approaches to managing the disease. This is not the end of deer hunting in Georgia. Working together we can manage CWD and keep prevalence low. Successfully managing CWD is the key to preserving Georgia’s rich deer hunting heritage.”