Chronic wasting disease discovered in a Virginia deer

Chronic wasting disease has been found for the first time in a Virginia white-tailed deer, the state game department said Wednesday.

The illness is a progressive neurological disease that ultimately results in death. It affects deer, elk and moose in North America, but it can't be transferred to livestock and isn't believed to affect humans. Still, game department officials warn hunters to be careful when handling deer.

A hunter in Frederick County killed the affected deer in November of last year, less than a mile from the West Virginia border. Virginia joins 17 states and Canadian provinces where the illness has been found.

How the disease is transmitted is not entirely known, according to the CDC.

Game department officials were alarmed but not totally surprised by the find. Ongoing tests of deer killed by hunters or on roads had shown that the disease had not been crossing state lines. Since 2001, the department has tested more than 5,000 deer.

In contrast, 62 out of 10,000 deer tested in West Virginia's Hampshire County have tested positive - several of them within five miles of the state line.

"This was not unexpected," said Bob Duncan, executive director of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. "Our wildlife professionals have been preparing for this for some time."