Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease that is spreading west and affecting deer, elk and moose populations. There have been 38 confirmed cases of CWD in Utah deer, but none in the northern part of the state.

The cow moose that tested positive for CWD was found two miles south of Bedford, Wyo., roughly 60 miles from the Utah/Idaho/Wyoming border.

"We know we have deer that go up there and winter close to that area," said Leslie McFarlane, wildlife disease specialist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "It is very possible that we could pick up CWD from this source of a known positive."

McFarlane said the state has collected roughly 1,300 samples from that corner of the state since 2002 and they have all come back negative. She also talked to Wyoming wildlife officials and learned that there have been no positive CWD results for deer in the same area.

The Bedford case is puzzling to biologists, according to a Wyoming Fish and Game news release, because it is the first CWD positive involving a moose in the state and the location in the Star Valley is so far from other confirmed CWD areas.

Of the 38 CWD cases in Utah, 26 have come from the LaSal Mountains east of Moab. Six of the animals were found in the Diamond Mountain area northeast of Vernal and six came from the mountains near Fountain Green in central Utah. The Fountain Green case is as far west as the disease has been documented.

McFarlane said a large number of samples collected from deer during the archery and muzzleloader hunts have come back negative for CWD and that those collected from the opening of the deer hunt last weekend have been submitted. She expects that a total of 1,400 samples will be tested this year.

Brett Prettyman can be contacted at brettp@sltrib.com or 801-257-8902.