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News reports:
A buck deer taken by a hunter in NE Utah last fall has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, officials reported on 2/18/03. Nearly 1,500 brain samples were collected from deer and elk in Utah in fall, 2002. Almost 1,400 have been tested and only one has been shown to be affected.
The positive sample came from a buck shot near the Utah-Colorado border east of Vernal, in the Brush Creek area. Its brain sample was first tested in a Logan lab and then sent to a lab in Iowa for confirmation.
Chronic wasting disease is incurable and contagious.
"It's important to remember that there is currently no evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans or livestock," said Jim Karpowitz, big game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. "It also does not appear to cause catastrophic die offs in deer and elk populations."
However, it is related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, which is a public health concern.
Utah officials knew the disease would eventually show up here, since it is found in herds near our boarders. Utah will aggressively expand testing to determine the extent of the infection as officials devise a containment strategy. Hunters should not be alarmed, Karpowitz said, but should get informed.
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