CWD in Mississippi: Northern CWD zone likely to expand, second case found in Warren County
Chronic wasting disease continues to spread with a new case detected in Warren County, a case in Alcorn County that will likely expand the North Mississippi CWD Management Zone and Alabama recently discovering its first case.
Under the current Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks CWD management regulations, any county within 10 miles of a known case of CWD falls into a CWD management zone where enhanced regulations regarding deer hunting and management are put into place.
Chronic wasting disease is a neurological disease and is said to be 100% fatal for members of the cervidae family such as white-tailed deer and elk. It is thought the disease is spread through direct deer-to-deer contact and indirectly through body fluids such as urine.
Once a deer contracts the disease, months or years may pass before symptoms are exhibited. According to MDWFP, infected animals lose weight, lose their appetite, and develop an insatiable thirst. They tend to stay away from herds, walk in patterns, carry their head low, salivate, and grind their teeth.
In the case of the recent CWD-positive deer found in Alcorn County, Tishomingo County will likely be added to the northern zone.
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CWD likely in Tishomingo County
"That deer was collected on Nov. 27," said Russ Walsh, MDWFP Wildlife chief of staff. "He was a 1½-year-old buck. It was roughly 1.3 miles to the Tishomingo County line."
For now, the buck is classified as a suspect-positive. In the process of confirming a case of CWD there are two tests. The first test is the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or ELISA test, and it is performed in Mississippi.
If an ELISA test indicates a tissue sample from a deer is positive, it is then sent out of state for an immunohistochemistry test, or IHC test, which is considered the gold standard of CWD testing. If that test result comes back positive, the deer is considered a confirmed-positive.
The IHL test has become almost a formality, though. Of the roughly 100 samples from Mississippi that have been tested using both tests, only two tested negative using the IHC test after testing positive using the ELISA test.
"I'm almost 100% sure it will come back positive on IHC, but we definitely wanted to confirm it on that one," Walsh said.
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Alabama's first case of CWD and a second in Warren County
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources recently announced the first known case of CWD in its state. It was discovered in Lauderdale County which borders Mississippi's Tishomingo County. With cases to its east and west, Walsh said that tells him the disease is already in Tishomingo County.
"Likely not at a high prevalence, but yes, I believe it's present somewhere in the county," Walsh said.
A second case of CWD was also recently detected in Warren County. It was found in the Kings Point Ferry Landing area, the same as the first case in Warren County, which was discovered in December. Nothing changes for hunters in the county because it is already in the Issaquena CWD Management Zone.
While it doesn't affect hunters, it does help MDWFP biologists.
"This just confirms that it is still present in the South Delta and we'll continue to collect samples the rest of the season so we can find the hotspot," Walsh said. "These two bucks may lead us to better determine where that is."
Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com. Follow Clarion LedgerOutdoors on Facebook and @BrianBroom on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi CWD zone expected to expand, first case found in Alabama
