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TENSAS PARISH — Chronic Wasting Disease has struck again in Tensas Parish. Jonathan Bordelon, deer program manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said an additional positive was found last weekend on the same private property. 

Since January 1, 2023, seven positives have been detected on one piece of private property in Tensas Parish bringing the state’s total up to eight positives since first detection in 2021-2022. Bordelon said he will have a comprehensive report of the total collection of samples and positives at the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting on February 2, 2023. 

Louisiana’s seven new positives this year have been found 1.5 miles from the Claiborne County border with Tensas Parish.

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has not had any new positives this week but has had 63 new positives this deer season. Since first detection, 197 cases of CWD have been detected in the state with four of those positives being in Warren County and the rest in north Mississippi around Benton and Marshall Counties. 

Hunters in Louisiana and Mississippi can help fight the infectious prion disease by adhering to CWD management area regulations, stopping the artificial concentration of deer with feeding and mineral licks, harvesting mature bucks as they are most likely to have the disease and submitting samples for testing. 

Mississippi and Louisiana are working with taxidermists to collect samples and hunters can drop off samples at freezer locations. These locations are listed on the MDWFP website or WLF website under CWD.