A mule deer shot by an archery hunter along Montana's Hi-Line is suspected of having chronic wasting disease, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The hunter had submitted the lymph nodes of the animal for testing. Results showing CWD will be confirmed by further testing. The case is the 20th detection of the fatal disease in Hunting Region 6 and the first in District 630, south of Glasgow, Hinsdale and Saco. Officials have now added the district to the previously established Northern Montana CWD Management Zone.

Whole carcasses, whole heads or spinal columns cannot be taken out of a CWD Management Zone, unless tests show no trace of chronic wasting disease. There are high priority areas in northern, southern and western Montana where hunters who harvest a deer, elk or moose should stop at a CWD-sampling check station. Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff will collect samples for testing. Along the Hi-Line, check stations are at Plentywood, Malta and Havre, and at Region 6 Headquarters in Glasgow. Though there is no known transmission of CWD to humans, the Centers for Disease Control recommends that hunters harvesting deer, elk or moose from an area where CWD is present have the animal tested before consuming the meat. If is tests positive, do NOT consume the meat.

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