(The Center Square) – The discovery of chronic wasting disease in a Georgia deer has state officials on alert, but they say the deer hunting industry will continue to thrive in the state.
The disease was found in a deer sampled for routine surveillance in Lanier County, according to the Department of Natural Resources. A hunter harvested the 2½-year-old deer in late November, the agency said.
Chronic waste disease, known as CWD, poses no threat to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it is fatal to animals. No treatment or vaccine exists, the agency said.
Deer hunting has a $1.6 billion impact in Georgia and supports more than 150,000 jobs, Dr. Tina Johannsen, assistant chief of the wildlife resources division, told the House Game, Fish and Parks Committee on Monday.
“We have about 600,000 hunters total in Georgia. Their license revenue generates another $23 million in Pittman and Robertson funds, those are federal funds,” Johannsen said. “And we harvest about 280,000 deer a year.”
The state has been monitoring the deer herd since 2002 and collects 1,800 samples monthly, said Commissioner Walter Rabon.
“The system that we have had in place for 20 years now worked,” Rabon told the committee. “It wasn’t a sick deer. It was just a routine surveillance that we do.”
The disease has been found in 36 states, including three of Georgia’s neighbors – Alabama, Florida and North Carolina, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The department established a CWD Management Area in Lanier and Berrien counties and will determine how far the disease has spread.
Rabon said that everything is fine “as far as the deer herd goes.” The plan is to work with the General Assembly, hunters, landowners and others, he said.
This is the second animal-related disease discovered in Georgia in the past month. The Department of Agriculture said avian flu was detected in two commercial flocks in Elbert County.
The state suspended all poultry activities, including auctions, livestock markets, shows and exhibitions involving live birds until further notice, the agriculture department said.