JACKSON — Officials say a fourth case of a debilitating deer disease may have been found in Mississippi.
The state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks said Thursday that an 18-month-old deer found Nov. 23 in Marshall County tests positive for chronic wasting disease.
The contagious and fatal neurological disease causes deer to have tremors and other movement problems and lose weight. It’s present in 24 other states.
A tissue sample will be further tested to confirm the finding.
Two previous cases have been confirmed in Issaquena County in the Mississippi Delta, while one was confirmed in northeast Mississippi’s Pontotoc County.
The department says it’s tested more than 1,200 deer this fall to determine the disease’s spread.
Officials encourage hunters to submit killed deer for testing. Locations are listed at www.mdwfp.com/cwd.
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