BATON ROUGE — Louisiana is encouraging increased surveillance efforts for deer hunters across the state in reaction to a CWD positive found at a captive deer facility. The deer at the Jeff Davis Parish facility had connections to captive deer facilities across the state including a parish bordering Pike County.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry first 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. LDAF regulates deer enclosures in Louisiana which is opposite of how Mississippi deer pens are regulated. 

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 Wednesday afternoon encouraging surveillance in more parishes and providing an update on the positive. 

“LDWF is increasing surveillance efforts in 10 other Louisiana parishes including Calcasieu, DeSoto, Bossier, Ouachita, Catahoula, Concordia, St. Landry, Pointe Coupee, Iberia and Tangipahoa parishes,” LDWF states. “At this time, LDAF has not confirmed the detection of CWD outside of the facility in Jeff Davis Parish. The increased surveillance is a proactive measure to monitor the health of the wild population.”

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 in November. “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 last month 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.