AUGUSTA – After testing 791 deer and one moose, not a single case of chronic wasting disease was found in Maine’s white-tail herd last year, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife reported Friday.

The disease, which was found in western states a decade ago and as close as upstate New York as recently as two years ago, kills deer that get it. The wildlife department continues to test the state’s white-tailed deer for CWD. Untreatable, it causes irreversible brain damage that ultimately leads to death in affected animals.

DIF&W wildlife biologists recently received test results from 791 white-tailed deer, most from the 2008 harvest, as well as from a moose euthanized by the Maine Warden Service. All samples were negative.

“Keeping chronic wasting disease out of Maine is critical to the health and productivity of our deer and moose herds,” said wildlife biologist Lee Kantar, whose specializes in deer and moose. “Chronic wasting disease has been found in many states and Canadian provinces, and is as close by as New York.”

State officials fear that if it emerges in Maine, CWD could cut Maine’s deer population by lowering adult survival. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been working to halt the disease threat here by warning hunters about its risks and passing new regulations.

Last year, two entire white-tailed deer carcasses, killed out-of-state, were brought into Maine illegally, according to Kantar. “Fortunately, these deer tested negative for CWD,” he said.

Hunters may return to Maine only with boned-out meat, hardened antlers (with or without skull caps), hides without the head portion, and finished taxidermy mounts.

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