JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Officials with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) reported 14 new positive cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

The Daily Leader reported it’s likely new positives will come in over the next few weeks.

The CWD samples, which are submitted by Mississippi hunters, are tested for the disease at Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Veterinary Research and Diagnostic Lab in Pearl. Since first detection in 2018, MDWFP has seen 266 positive CWD cases.

CWD is a 100% fatal, transmissible, neurogenerative disease. One challenge of detecting the disease is that until deer enter the last stages of CWD, they often appear completely healthy.

MDWFP officials said the disease is transmitted through deer by their saliva, feces, urine, or contaminated environment.

Hunter participation in efforts to control CWD includes submitting harvested deer for testing, harvesting younger bucks, and discontinuing the use of supplemental feeding and baiting to help keep deer from congregating.

MDWFP allows more deer to be harvested in CWD zones and forbids supplemental feeding in these areas.

The next important step is for hunters to leave the heads of harvested deer at one of the state’s 63 drop-off sites.