Hunters might not have to worry, but they might wonder if the white-tailed deer they harvest during the upcoming season has chronic wasting disease, or CWD.

The latest confirmed case of the fatal neurological disease that affects members of the Cervidae family of deer was detected in June in a captive deer about 50 miles from the county border in Warren County.

The disease has been found in deer in neighboring Armstrong, Clarion, Indiana and Westmoreland counties as well as nearby Jefferson and Clearfield counties, and state game officials said they don't know where or when the next case will turn up.

"It's hard to say what it will do and when," said Andrea Korman, CWD biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "We do know it will spread.

"In Butler County, I wouldn't worry about it this year in wild deer. It's hard to speculate,” she said. “It's hard to say where it will show up next."

The game commission has established disease management areas (DMAs) around the places where infected deer have been found. DMAs' regulations are intended to monitor and limit spread of the disease through testing of harvested and road-killed deer, and expanded hunting opportunities.

DMA 2 in south central Pennsylvania is known as the established area. The disease was first detected there in 2012 and it was expanded this year to 7,744 square miles after new cases were found in two counties.

"The established area is the worst area,” Korman said. “One in seven hunter-harvested deer test positive.”

She said there are no signs that wild deer have developed complete immunity from the disease, but deer with certain genotypes are more resistant and live longer, but they still eventually die.

There is no evidence that the disease is transmissible to people, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against eating meat from a deer that tests positive.

But most symptoms in deer, such as drooling, stumbling, emaciation, lack of fear of humans and walking in circles, don't become evident until a month or two before the deer dies, even though deer can have the disease for two years without showing symptoms, Korman said.

Other diseases such as epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which is caused by the bite of midge, or an infection from an injury can produce the same symptoms, said Jason Amory, information and education supervisor for the commission's Northwest regional office.

Feeding deer is prohibited in DMAs because it causes deer to artificially congregate and, Amory said, the commission recommends not feeding any wild animals because of the possible spread of disease because of proximity.

If a hunter kills a deer that appears sick outside of a DMA, they should report it to the nearest regional office as unfit for consumption and they can get a replacement tag, Korman said.

Anyone who sees a sick deer should call the commission, so the animal can be killed and tested, she said.