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Some hunters required to submit kill for disease testing

Posted at 10:51 AM, Feb 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-18 12:51:13-05

DENVER (AP) -- Some hunters who bag a deer in three of the four hunting areas in Colorado will be required to submit their kill to be tested for chronic wasting disease.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Lauren Truitt tells The Denver Post (https://goo.gl/kvMOhH ) that hunters who apply for licenses in the southwest, northwest and northeast regions will be randomly selected to submit the animal's head. She says the testing will determine where the disease is concentrated and whether it can be contained.

The tests require taking a sample of brain tissue, but they do not prevent the head from being mounted.

The fatal neurological disease also attacks the brains of elk and moose, and causes animals to lose weight and act abnormally. Infected animals also can show no signs of illness.

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