After a 4.5-year-old whitetail buck tested positive, Mississippi became the 24th state to have Chronic Wasting Disease confirmed within its borders.
In response, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fishers, and Parks immediately implemented its CWD Response Plan and banned supplemental feeding in Claiborne, Hinds, Issaquena, Sharkey, Warren, and Yazoo Counties.
According to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, CWD affects only hoofed animals in the cervidae family such as deer, elk, and moose. CWD affects the body’s nervous system. Once in the host’s body, prions transform normal cellular protein into an abnormal shape that accumulates until the cell ceases to function. Infected animals begin to lose weight, lose their appetite, and develop an insatiable thirst.
Michigan and Montana already held special CWD-related hunts this year.
(Video source: Mississippi State University Extension Service)