CHARLESTON, W.Va. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources heads to Hampshire County this week to expand its investigation on chronic wasting disease.

The agency will hold a public meeting tonight in Hampshire County, and then begin shooting deer tomorrow.

Both actions come after the announcement earlier this month that a road-killed deer near the Virginia line tested positive for the disease.

Chronic wasting disease was first recognized in 1967 in Colorado and it attacks the brains of infected deer and elk. It’s in the same family as mad cow disease.

D-N-R game management chief Paul Johansen says tonight’s public meeting will update residents on the agency’s plans for tracking the disease.

Tomorrow’s shooting will allow the agency to collect additional samples from deer living within a five-mile radius of where the infected deer was found.

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