Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Makes Chronic Wasting Disease Testing Service Available to Hunters
15 Oktober 2019 - 4:27PM
Business Wire
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has
coordinated with Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at
the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in Baton Rouge to provide an
in-state mechanism for testing harvested deer for the presence of
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
Hunters seeking to have their harvested deer tested for CWD are
encouraged to complete a new online form detailing the specific
location where they have harvested a deer and then submit tissue
from the animal to the nearest LDWF Field Office. The test will
provide a reliable assurance to hunters that the animal was not
positive for CWD.
While CWD has not been detected in Louisiana, it has been found
in deer in nearby states Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.
“This test will help to give our deer hunters peace of mind,’’
LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet said. “But it will also be another
tool we can use for monitoring CWD, as we work to keep CWD from
entering our state. The more testing that is done the better.’’
“We do not have CWD in the state,” said State Wildlife
Veterinarian Dr. Jim LaCour. “But we’re going to offer this to
hunters if they want to have their deer tested.”
The testing service costs $37.50 and users can pay through the
online application using any major credit card. Upon completion of
the new online form, hunters are given a printable voucher to
submit along with their tissue sample. Each submission is assigned
an ID number, which is used to view test results from hunters’
specific samples on LDWF’s website, where all results will be
publicly available. LDWF is aiming for a complete turnaround of two
weeks, allowing hunters to quickly get their results in time to
enjoy their venison.
CWD is a neurodegenerative disease found in most deer species,
including Louisiana’s native white-tailed deer. It is infectious,
always fatal, and there is no treatment. It’s part of a group of
diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)
and is similar to BSE (mad cow disease) in cattle and scrapie in
sheep. These diseases cause irreversible damage to brain tissue,
which leads to excessive salivation, neurological symptoms,
emaciation and death of the animal.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), there is no evidence that CWD has infected humans. However,
the CDC recommends caution in handling venison in infected regions
and that deer be tested for CWD before consuming. CWD positive deer
should not be consumed by people.
CWD has been documented in 26 states and three Canadian
provinces. LDWF has been monitoring and testing for CWD for more
than 15 years and has checked more than 9,000 deer during that
period.
Detailed instructions and more information can be found at
wlf.la.gov/hunting/CWD.
ABOUT LDWF
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged
with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural
resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov. To
receive email alerts, signup at http://www.wlf.la.gov/signup.
ABOUT LOUISIANA INTERACTIVE
Louisiana Interactive is the official digital government partner
for the state of Louisiana. The company builds and manages
interactive services for departments and agencies throughout
Louisiana Government. Louisiana Interactive is a wholly owned
subsidiary of digital government firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV).
ABOUT NIC
NIC Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV) launched the digital government industry
in 1992, and continues to lead it, providing a secure payment
engine and thousands of digital government solutions across a
network of more than 6,000 federal, state, and local government
agencies. In addition, NIC is a leading provider of outdoor
recreation solutions, with 1 out of 6 hunting and fishing licenses
in the United States sold using an NIC service. The Company created
the nation's first personal assistant for government and
comprehensive mobile platform, Gov2Go®, as well as the innovative,
data-driven prescription drug monitoring platform, RxGov®. More
information is available at www.egov.com.
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Kevin Minor Louisiana Interactive (225) 325-5438
Kevin.Minor@egov.com
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