Prohibiting chronic wasting disease from entering Georgia is an
ongoing effort. Anyone interested in wildlife – hunters,
wildlife watchers and processors, among others – are encouraged
to help keep Georgia’s quality deer herd CWD-free. CWD, a
contagious neurological disease affecting deer, elk and moose,
belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies, the same group of diseases affecting some
domestic animals, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy or
“mad cow disease.” Hunters can help reduce the risk of spreading
CWD into Georgia by understanding current regulations that
prohibit the importation of live cervids and restrict the
importation of certain cervid carcass parts from known CWD-
infected states. “The potential introduction of CWD poses a
serious threat to Georgia’s economically and culturally valuable
white-tailed deer resource,” explains John W. Bowers, assistant
chief of Game Management for the Wildlife Resources Division.
“We encourage hunters to be knowledge