JACKSON — It should come as no surprise that the latest positive detection of Chronic Wasting Disease is from a deer in Benton County. North Mississippi is one of the hot spots of the 100 percent, always fatal infectious prion disease in deer. 

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks reported the positive Wednesday morning.Samples have started to stream in with primitive firearm season and rifle season opening up across the state. The more deer harvested the more samples come in. 

MDWFP reports there have been 1,320 samples submitted for Chronic Wasting Disease testing in FY2025 with four positive detections. The agency’s fiscal year starts on July 1 and runs until June 30th. Hunter participation in surveillance efforts for Chronic Wasting Disease are vital in early detection in new areas and helping the agency gauge prevalence in hotspots. 

Since 2018, Benton County has had 183 deer test positive for CWD followed closely by Marshall County at 104 positive deer. Alcorn County has had 8 deer test positive, Warren County has had 7, Issaquena has had 3 test positive and DeSotto County has had 2 test positive. 

Claiborne, Tunica, Harrison, Tishimingo, Tallahatchie, Tippah, Tate, Panola, Pontotoc and Lafayette Counties all have had one positive detected. Tate County’s positive came from a permitted deer enclosure and one of Benton County’s positives was from a deer enclosure. 

More samples are needed to find CWD in Mississippi and fight against the disease and to protect the resource. Lincoln County hunters have turned in 742 samples over the years but more is needed. 

MDWFP has a list of self-serve 24/7 sample drop-off coolers and a list of participating taxidermists on their website. 

Louisiana detects enclosure positive

The Daily Leader continues to keep tabs on Chronic Wasting Disease sampling efforts and positive detections in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry reported a deceased deer from an enclosure in Jefferson Davis Parish tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease on Nov. 7. The farm was a participant in the US Department of Agriculture’s voluntary CWD Herd Certification Program. 

Chronic Wasting Disease is a 100 percent always fatal disease in deer and other members of the cervidae family caused by an infectious prion. The disease can be spread through direct contact with positive deer or indirect contact when prions are shed into the environment. 

LDAF states there is now a quarantine restricting movement into or out of the deer farm and a 25 mile radius surveillance zone has been established. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries issued a release Friday afternoon in response to the news. 

“The Office of the State Veterinarian has established a surveillance zone for herds near the affected deer farm and is diligently reviewing recent movement records,” LDWF states, “All deer farms in the surveillance zone are under restricted movement until further notice. Louisiana deer hunters in Jefferson Davis Parish are encouraged to assist in surveillance by submitting samples. A deer head with 4 to 5 inches of neck is needed for diagnostic testing. The LDWF Field Office located at 1025 Tom Watson Road, Lake Charles, LA 70615 is the closest option for submitting samples at this time.”

Johnathan Bordelon, LDWF deer program director, has said in the past hunter submitted samples are the key to finding and fighting CWD especially if the disease is caught early. 

LDWF has conducted statewide surveillance of free-ranging deer since 2002.  To date, Louisiana’s only 22 CWD detections in the wild have been collected in Tensas Parish since 2022.

“While the disease may be contained within the facility, active surveillance of the wild herd is needed to ensure the health of the free ranging population,” Bordelon said. “Proximity to a known CWD detection does heighten the level of risk. The goal of surveillance is to not impact hunters and the practices hunters utilize to hunt deer but to ensure wild populations are healthy, and the venison from hunter harvested deer is disease free.”

It should be noted research at Mississippi State University showed raccoons were able to carry prions and contaminate CWD free environments and surfaces such as feeders. 

Bordelon said the LDWF has increased its communication with regional forest landowners and hunters in the area. LDAF is currently investigating the movement history of the licensed facility and any findings from the investigation could be used to inform the LDWF’s future surveillance and mitigation. 

So far this hunting season, LDWF has collected 450 samples for Chronic Wasting Disease testing. Five out of the 10 deer hunting zones open up to modern firearm hunting this past weekend. In previous years, samples were slow trickling in early on but picked up with firearm season. 

“Sampling numbers are anticipated to increase in the coming weeks due to the statewide firearm season for deer in progress,” Bordelon said. “Most samples from the endemic area have been collected in the past week and results are not yet available.”