MDWFP to Host Public Meeting to Discuss CWD
2/22/2018 3:33:54 PM
MDWFP
View on FacebookLIVE at 6:30 p.m. at www.facebook.com/mdwfp
Jackson – The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks will host a public meeting to discuss Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson on Thursday, February 22 at 6:30 p.m. In addition to providing more information about the disease, MDWFP personnel will discuss Mississippi’s CWD Response Plan. Biologists and Law Enforcement officials will be available to answer questions.
On February 9, 2018, the MDWFP was notified that a single sample collected from a white-tailed deer in Issaquena County tested positive for CWD, marking the first time the disease has ever been documented in Mississippi. The disease is caused by a malformed protein or prion and is known to affect white-tailed deer and other related animals, such as elk, moose, and reindeer. There is no known treatment for CWD, which can only be confirmed through laboratory analysis.
Upon notification of the positive sample, the MDWFP enacted the CWD Response Plan. The plan establishes management zones of 5-, 10-, and 25-miles around the point where the positive animal was collected. Among the management actions in the plan is the discontinuation of supplemental feeding of wildlife in all counties in the buffer zone. Counties impacted by the supplemental feeding ban include Issaquena, Sharkey, Yazoo, Hinds, Warren, and Claiborne.
For more information about Chronic Wasting Disease, including a link to the CWD Response Plan, visit www.mdwfp.com/cwd. To report a sick animal, call 800-BE-SMART (800-237-6278) or email biologist@mdwfp.state.ms.us. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mdwfp or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDWFPonline.
###
