LINCOLN – Two more positive cases of chronic wasting disease have turned up from the latest batch of deer tested at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory.

A total of seven deer killed by hunters now have tested positive for the fatal disease. All of the infected deer were killed in the Panhandle.

The latest were a 21/2-year-old white-tailed buck shot in northern Sioux County and a 21/2-year-old mule deer buck killed in southwest Kimball County, Bruce Morrison, assistant chief of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s wildlife division, said Wednesday.

The two positive tests were from about 400 deer most recently tested at the UNL facility. About 3,600 deer killed throughout the state by hunters have been tested this year, including about 2,400 from the Panhandle. Another 600 animals remain to be tested.

“Seven positive tests out of 2,400 deer tested from the Panhandle is still less than 1 percent, which is very good news,” Morrison said.

A total of 22 deer have tested positive for CWD since 2000 when the first positive test in Nebraska’s wild deer was recorded. All of the cases are from the Panhandle.

Infected deer have been found in five counties. Sioux County leads the way with 13, while Kimball County has five cases. Two were found in Morrill County while one was found in each of Scotts Bluff and Cheyenne counties.

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