Two more cases of a progressive, fatal disease in wildlife have been found in two deer in northwest Alabama.

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) today announced that two cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) were confirmed in hunter harvested, white-tailed deer in northern Lauderdale County.

That brings Alabama’s total number of confirmed CWD cases to five.

CWD was first detected in Lauderdale County almost two years ago, in January 2022. After the first case was confirmed, all of Lauderdale and Colbert counties were designated as a CWD Management Zone (CMZ).

CWD commonly results in altered behavior due to microscopic changes of the brain in infected animals. An animal may carry the disease for years without outward signs. But in later stages, animals may exhibit listlessness, lowering of the head, weight loss, repetitive walking in set patterns and a lack of responsiveness.

According to the ADCNR, samples have been collected from more than 1,700 white-tailed deer harvested statewide, with 420 of those samples collected within the CMZ this hunting season.

One of the positive samples was submitted during a mandatory sampling weekend on Dec. 2 and 3. The other positive was voluntarily submitted at a drop-off sampling location by a hunter.

The next mandatory sampling weekend in the buffer zone of the CMZ is Jan. 6 and 7, 2024.

ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship thanked hunters for providing a “robust” number of samples.

“Hunters are our most important partners in the management of CWD as we move forward with future deer seasons,” he said.

For more information on CWD, visit the Outdoor Alabama website.