The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says they have yet to find any positive results for chronic wasting disease in Louisiana. L-D-W-F was put on alert when a case was confirmed in the Mississippi Delta just five miles away from the Louisiana border. LDWF Program Manager Johnathan Bordelon says they’ve sampled 188 deer from East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parishes.
Bordelon says that chronic wasting disease was not found in 114 deer that were tested.
Bordelon says they hope to sample over 100 more deer in northeast Louisiana. He says C-W-D is a neurodegenerative disease and it causes irreversible brain damage and infected deer can spread the disease even before symptoms develop.
Bordelon expresses that "early detection is very important." Bordelon says, "This is why we're monitoring at this time."
Bordelon says they will continue to work with private landowners to obtain consent for sampling efforts and they are asking for the public to watch out for signs of the disease.
According to Bordelon, behavior such as "walking in circles" or being "unaware of people approaching" are signs of deer having the disease.