The state Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an emergency rule banning bringing parts of white-tailed deer and American elk from Pennsylvania into New York State due to chronic wasting disease (CWD).

A DEC statement said a confirmed case of chronic wasting disease has been found in a deer farm in Pennsylvania.

Effective immediately, the rule prohibits importing certain parts of white-tailed deer or American elk taken in Pennsylvania.

The hills of Pennsylvania are a favorite hunting spot for hunters from all over the Northeast and beyond.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture confirmed the first case of CWD in Pennsylvania on Oct. 11 at a deer farm in New Oxford (Adams County), Penn.

CWD is a contagious neurological disease affecting deer, elk and moose. It causes a characteristic spongy degeneration of the brain in infected animals resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death.

In response, DEC is prohibiting importation the following parts of deer or elk taken in Pennsylvania: brain, eyes, spinal cord, tonsils, intestinal tract, spleen or retropharyngeal lymph nodes.

“Hunters who take a deer or elk in Pennsylvania must now butcher the animal and remove the prohibited parts before entering New York State,” said DEC Commissioner JoeMartens. “This action is necessary to protect New York’s populations of deer and moose. Most successful hunters already opt to butcher a deer and put the meat in a cooler before traveling back to New York.”

CWD is related to mad cow disease.

DEC first confirmed CWD in New York in 2005 and has not discovered any additional cases of CWD since then. DEC recently revised its surveillance plan and efforts this year will concentrate on collecting tissues at taxidermists as well as deer processors.

It is not known exactly how CWD is transmitted. The infectious agent, a prion, may be passed from animal to animal through feces, urine or saliva. The minimal incubation period between infection and development of clinical disease appears to be about 16 months. The maximum incubation period is unknown, as is the point at which shedding of the CWD agent begins during the prolonged course of infection.

The movement of infected material is believed to be one of primary routes of transmission.

DEC advises hunters not to consume the meat of any animal that acts abnormal and to exercise precautions when butchering animals, such as using rubber or latex gloves. Also, DEC urges hunters to dispose in a municipal landfill deer parts that will not be consumed.

Additional information about CWD can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7507.html and http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/33220.html.

Information is also available on the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance's website at http://www.cwd-info.org/.