ELKADER (AP) — Results show at least six deer killed near Elkader in northeastern Iowa in the recent hunting season tested positive for chronic wasting disease, state wildlife officials said Tuesday.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources also announced the disease was discovered for the first time in Decatur, Fayette, Winneshiek and Woodbury counties during the recent season, the Telegraph Herald reported.
The Iowa DNR submitted nearly 7,000 deer tissue samples for testing from hunter-killed or road-killed deer in the recent hunting season. Testing showed 43 positive results, six of which were near Elkader in Clayton County.
The disease attacks the brains of deer and elk and is always fatal. No human cases have ever been recorded, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge people not to consume meat from affected animals.
The fatal disease first appeared in a wild deer herd in Iowa in 2013.