Alabama Department Of Conservation And Wildlife To Hold CWD Informational Meetings

As whitetail bowhunting season gets underway next week, the Alabama Department Of Conservation And Wildlife (ADCW) has announced a series of informational meetings to educate hunters about chronic wasting disease (CWD), according to an AL.com article.

Although it has not appeared in Alabama, the ADCW has been concerned by recent outbreaks in north central Mississippi and southwest Tennessee, close enough for free-ranging deer to carry it across the state line, and also areas where Alabama hunters sometimes visit and harvest animals, said the article.

CWD is slow to develop, taking up to a year for full-blown symptoms to appear. Symptoms can include drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness and other neurologic symptoms. CWD can affect animals of all ages and some infected animals may die without ever developing the disease. There are no treatments or vaccines.

The disease can be spread by infected carcasses of deer taken by hunters leading most states to tightly regulate importation of all species that can carry the disease.

The following is the schedule of meetings to inform hunters of procedures for handling harvested deer and new rules on importation of deer and other cervids from out-of-state hunts:

Monday, Oct. 21 | Bass Pro Shop Meeting Room 2553 Rocky Mt. Rd. Prattville, AL 36066

Tuesday, Oct. 22 | Wallace State College Bailey Center Auditorium 801 Main St. NW Hanceville, AL 35077

Wednesday, Nov. 6 | Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Building Lecture Room 2217 602 Duncan Dr. Auburn, AL 36849

Thursday, Nov. 7 | Tuscaloosa County Extension Office 2513 7th St. Tuscaloosa, AL 35402

Tuesday, Nov. 19 | Central Alabama Farmers COOP 2519 US Highway 80 West Selma, AL 36701

Wednesday, Nov. 20 | Wallace Community College Bevill Auditorium 3235 S. Eufaula Ave. Eufaula, AL 36027

Thursday, Nov. 21 | 5 Rivers Delta Resources Center 30945 Five Rivers Blvd. Spanish Fort, AL 36527