DOUGLAS, Ga. — Chronic wasting disease has turned up in more South Georgia deer, and state wildlife officials are widening the zone where special rules apply in the middle of hunting season.
Four new positive deer were confirmed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, one of them the first ever detected in Coffee County, located near the border with Cook County. Because of those finds, the state agency is pulling Coffee and Cook into its CWD Management Area.
With the additions, the zone stretches across Atkinson, Berrien, Cook, Coffee, Lanier and Lowndes counties. Under the state response plan, the zone includes the county where an infected deer is found plus every county that falls within 5 miles of the spot.
The disease is a contagious, fatal neurological illness that attacks deer and their relatives. Deer pass it along when they touch saliva, urine or feces that carry the misfolded proteins known as prions, and also through contaminated soil, food or water. Once it takes hold it is nearly impossible to eliminate, because prions can linger in the environment for years.
Infected deer often look healthy until late in an incubation period of 18 to 24 months. Wildlife biologists say population effects can take decades to show up, but once more than 15% of a herd is infected, numbers start to fall.
DNR wants hunters to help track the spread by bringing in harvested deer for testing, at no cost. The agency has set up drop-off sites with processors and taxidermists inside and outside the management area.
Hunters who travel out of state face limits on what they can bring home. Live deer imports have been banned in Georgia since 2005, and illegal importations can be reported to the DNR Ranger Hotline at 1-800-241-4113.
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