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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Nineteen more cases of chronic wasting disease have been confirmed in north Arkansas.
The state Game and Fish Commission said Wednesday that 18 more deer and one more elk tested positive for the disease. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1pJkX3J ) reports that this brings the total number to 22.
Brad Carner, chief of the commission's wildlife management division, said the latest batch of tested samples contained 49 deer and elk, making the prevalence rate for the disease much higher than commission biologists anticipated.
The first case was discovered in an elk killed near Pruitt during the October hunting season. The disease also affects other animals such as deer and moose. It's unclear how it reached northern Arkansas.
There are no confirmed cases of the disease being transmitted to humans or livestock, but health officials say meat from infected animals shouldn't be eaten.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
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