An adult doe in southeast Wayne County that was harvested during the first shotgun deer season tested positive with chronic wasting disease (CWD).

The deer is the first hunter-harvested wild deer to test positive outside of northeast Iowa.

The deer confirmed with the disease in Wayne County was shot on December 5.

“We contacted the hunter once it was confirmed,” Terry Haindfield, wildlife biologist and coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources chronic wasting disease monitoring effort said. “The test results are disappointing but not surprising. We are seeing an increasing number of CWD positive deer in northeast Iowa and from our neighboring states.”

Haindfield said there have been seven other deer that have tested positive for CWD in eastern Iowa.

The Iowa DNR said they are waiting for the final set of test results from special collections in Allamakee and Clayton counties.

The fatal disease first appeared in a wild deer herd in 2013. The disease in neurologic in deer and elk.