Sadly, and chillingly, the buck that tested positive for chronic wasting disease had been spreading the deadly malady for a long time before a Pennsylvania Game Commission employee shot him.

According to studies, deer can carry chronic wasting disease for about 100 weeks before they show signs of the disease.The commission announced Wednesday that the disease had been found in a free-ranging buck in Bell Township, Clearfield County - only 10 miles from the border of the state's elk range.During a press conference Thursday, commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said that someone from the public had spotted the adult deer looking sick, showing clinical signs for CWD. It tested positive on June 7."We have the responsibility to take the necessary actions," Burhans said. "Hunters are our first line of defense."Burhans said that additional antlerless deer tags will be issued in deer management area three, and the tags will be valid on public and private land.Also, deer will be taken by sharp shooters in the vicinity where the infected buck was found. Harvested deer will be tested at two locations; those locations will be announced soon.Burhans said that the two methods were "the best options" and that the efforts would need the support of hunters as well as the general public.Management and containment of the disease will impact the management of all the state's wildlife today and for future generations, since hunting in Pennsylvania is a $1.6 billion industry, he added.Previously, the disease had only been detected in captive deer in the deer management area.Andy Olsen, a biologist for Keystone Elk Country Alliance, said that the disease was "on the doorstep of Pennsylvania's elk range."The alliance manages the visitor's center at Benzette, headquarters for the elk herd.Olsen said that about 400,000 people visit the center yearly; since 2010 when it opened the center has received more than two million visitors."We can help educate the public about CWD," Olsen said during the press conference. "We will make it a focus."Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary Cindy Dunn said that DCNR has committed its resources to contain CWD."We recognize the severity of the issue," she said. "Eighty percent of our state park lands are available for hunting, which is an important element of outdoor recreation."Wayne Laroche, director, Bureau of Wildlife Management for the game commission painted a grim picture.He said that the new case in the deer management area 3 is 35 miles from the closest case in area 2. He estimated that there could be 40-50 cases confirmed this year.Before 2016, the total number of cases in deer management area 2 was at 27, which included 12 new cases in 2015. The total number of confirmed cases in 2016 was 34, but about 1,500 hunter-harvest samples hadn't yet been tested."CWD (in other cases nationally) has always increased; it doesn't diminish itself," Laroche said. "The potential outcome for Pennsylvania could be catastrophe."