Des Moines, Iowa (AP) Test results to determine if a brain-wasting disease has spread to deer herds in Iowa won’t be available until February, Iowa DNR officials said.

About 1,700 deer heads had been collected during the first of
Iowa’s two regular shotgun deer seasons, said Willie Suchy, a DNR
wildlife biologist. The second season runs Dec. 11-19.

Thomas Holm, president of the Iowa chapter of the Izaak Walton
League, said the disease affects more than just hunters. If it
makes its way to Iowa, he said, it will cost the state millions of
dollars.

DNR officials have asked hunters to be on the lookout for deer
that show symptoms of the disease, that are emaciated or are losing
their skin. About a dozen of these target animals have been
collected through the fall, Suchy said.