Mo. combats chronic wasting disease in deer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri conservation officials are issuing special seals to landowners to help manage chronic wasting disease in the state's deer herd during hunting season.

Each seal allows landowners or hunters they authorize on their property to kill one deer of either sex during open season. The Department of Conservation plans to give five seals to each person owning at least five acres within one mile of where the disease has been detected. The hunting seals can only be used on the specific property to which they are issued.

Chronic wasting disease is a neurological disease spread among deer through physical contact or contact with soil containing the waste of an infected deer. The disease has been found in part of north-central Missouri.