Parelaphostrongylus tenuis on Wassaw Island, Georgia: a result of translocating white-tailed deer.

Meningeal worms (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) were found in each of five white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) examined from Wassaw Island, Chatham County, Georgia, in September 1993. This represents the first reported occurrence of the parasite on a southeastern barrier island and extends its geographic distribution approximately 140 km beyond the nearest known infected mainland deer population. According to an anecdotal account, six white-tailed deer were imported from Pennsylvania and released on Wassaw Island in 1905 or shortly thereafter. Based on its absence elsewhere along the southeastern coast from North Carolina to Louisiana and its high prevalence in Pennsylvania, the enzootic focus of P. tenuis on Wassaw Island was attributed to translocation of infected deer.