Officials in West Virginia continued to collect sample from harvested deer in search of the presence of chronic wasting disease. One more sample was found in Hampshire Country bringing to total 10 found this year in that county.
Officials in the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources say preliminary test results have detected the disease in one hunter-harvested deer collected during this year’s hunting season.
Another deer with the disease was killed on the road and eight others were collected by D-N-R officials.
D-N-R spokesman Frank Jezioro says samples were collected from more than 13-hundred deer in the area.
He says based upon the findings, the disease seems to be in a relatively small geographical area.
In Illinois testing there is showing that the disease may be spreading further south as authorities confirmed 16 more cases.
The positive tests came from deer killed by firearm and archery hunters and a few suspicious deer taken by DNR staff.
Winnebago and DeKalb counties each had six; Boone County four.All but one case was from deer in previously infected areas. The exception was a deer killed in southern DeKalb County, about seven miles from the LaSalle County line.
The state has included southern DeKalb in next month’s special CWD hunt because of the new discovery.
The latest positives came from about 2,500 deer. Tests have not been completed on all deer sampled during the firearm seasons.
Tom Remington
