CWD: Only a Matter of Time
Written by: Kevin Johansen, Fall Obsession Pro Staff
In 2018 when I began researching an Elk hunt in Colorado, the rampant spread and threat of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was fresh on my mind. Many states in the West and Midwest were already plagued with the disease and states on the east coast were starting to feel the effects as well. Luckily the Southeast was mostly unaffected, until the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) announced in early 2018 a deceased deer in Issaquena County tested positive for the disease. Sitting in my kitchen in January 2018 watching a livestream from MDWFP regarding the discovery, my initial reaction was “It’s only a matter of time now for Florida.” Later that year came the first positive test in Tennessee. Then in 2022 Alabama announced its first positive test in Lauderdale County, which shares a border with Tennessee. A little over five years after the initial find in Mississippi, the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) announced on June 22nd, 2023 a road-killed deer in Holmes County tested positive for the disease, making Florida the 31st state to find CWD in its deer population.
FWC released a statement that new regulations would be created in neighboring counties to combat the spread of CWD. The measures below were shared with current hunting license holders in an attempt to stop the spread of CWD.
Establishment of a CWD Management Zone centered around the location of the positive sample. The CWD Management Zone includes the portions of Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties north of Interstate 10, east of State Road 81 and west of U.S. Highway 231.
The prohibition of exporting whole cervid (deer) carcasses and high-risk carcass parts originating from the CWD Management Zone
The prohibition of baiting or feeding deer within the CWD Management Zone with limited exceptions
The prohibition of rehabilitating or releasing injured or orphaned white-tailed deer originating within the CWD Management Zone
The above regulations are par for the course when a state first detects CWD in their cervid (deer, elk, moose, and caribou in North America) population. CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy caused by prions that result in misshaped proteins that primarily affect the brain in cervid animal populations. The disease degenerates brain tissue and is 100% fatal. Due to the nearly indestructible nature of the prions, state agencies will typically ban the transportation of carcasses from areas where the disease has been detected. Most states only allow hunters to bring deboned meat across state lines when returning from CWD prone areas, as the prions tend to concentrate in the nervous and skeletal systems. This rule may seem like a target on the back of out of state hunters, but it’s in place to reduce the risk of introducing CWD to your home state.
In 2020 Florida attempted to curb the introduction of CWD (and in my opinion to soften the blow of impending regulations) by introducing a permitting process that required hunters to apply for a permit to transport intact deer carcasses into the state. The catch being the deer had to be one killed in the border states of Alabama or Georgia. Cervids originating from all other states had to be deboned. For obvious reasons this program was short-lived, and had it worked I wouldn’t be writing this article.
CWD prions are spread via nasal passages in cervids, and are essentially ever present in the environment once introduced. This is why when the disease is discovered state agencies will end the practice of baiting in the CWD zone. Imagine a pile of corn on the ground that multiple cervids visit each day. If CWD has been found in the area, there is a very real chance infected animals will visit the pile and exhale the prions onto the ground. The prions are now part of the landscape, and will be there for the foreseeable future as destroying them takes extreme measures not found in nature. Prions can survive in environments up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours, temperatures not typically found on the forest floor. These prions are then inhaled by cervids visiting the bait piles and the cycle continues throughout the local population. This is why state agencies will ban baiting in the CWD zone as an initial measure to slow the proliferation of the disease.
The last regulation is somewhat of a no-brainer, as pulling any animal from the CWD zone and introducing it to another area would be counter-productive to isolating the disease, and frankly pretty unwise. I think the state includes this as a catch all, but also because animals infected with CWD don’t always show signs of the disease. It can take 18-24 months before signs are seen, making the disease even harder to head off in a local cervid population. It’s not hard to imagine someone scooping up an injured fawn, nursing them back to health, and releasing the animal back to the wild not realizing it was CWD positive and doomed from the outset. That deer will then go on to infect X-number of fellow cervids in an entirely new area, furthering the spread of the disease.
The truth, in my opinion, is Florida never stood a chance one the disease showed up in the southeast. The trouble with CWD is once you find it, the bell has been rung and stopping the spread is essentially an impossible task. It’s already there, and once researchers identify one hot spot more show up further and further from the initial finding. To illustrate this an interactive timeline can be found at https://cwd-info.org/timeline/. It’s a great resource that will help you understand the spread of CWD since its discovery in 1967.
Going forward the state of Florida will have to be extremely diligent in testing animals found in an around the CWD zone, but at this point we as hunters need to do our part as well. First and foremost, follow the guidelines within the CWD zone, as well as the transport of deer carcasses into the rest of the state. It is also important to note any odd behavior you see in local deer and report it to your local FWC regional office. It’s going to be a long road ahead, and more counties will undoubtedly see cases of CWD develop, but if we take some basic precautions, hopefully the spread can be mitigated.