Mississippi wildlife commission approves new CWD management zone

In its December meeting, the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks approved a new chronic wasting disease management zone after an infected deer was discovered in Harrison County in November.

Russ Walsh, MDWFP Wildlife chief of staff, told the commission it was a 2 1/2-year-old buck and it was tested multiple times for the disease.

"It went through four tests," Walsh said. "Also, an additional test, we did take some material from the actual brain, or actual skull of the deer, and ran a test on it as well and it did come back positive. So, we kind of attacked this from multiple angles and every angle we came at it from this deer was indeed positive for CWD."

The new zone will go into effect Feb. 16, 2024, and includes portions of Hancock and Harrison counties.

The area is delineated as follows:

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or [email protected].