Hunting restrictions are in place within a 600-square-mile area of York and Adams counties so state officials can manage chronic wasting disease among captive and wild deer and elk.

The restrictions follow discovery of the disease Oct. 11 at a farm in Adams County, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said in a news release.

The state Department of Agriculture said the white-tailed deer in New Oxford tested positive for the disease, which is fatal in deer, elk and moose.

Because that deer once lived at the former Rutt Acre Whitetails farm on Pickett Road in Washington Township, the York County property was quarantined last week.

Other quarantined farms are on Bremer Road in Dover Township and in Williamsport, Lycoming County.

Management area: Carl Roe, the game commission's executive director, issued an executive order Wednesday outlining a disease management area where officials will monitor the disease through surveillance, testing and management.

The disease attacks the brains of infected deer, elk and moose, producing lesions that eventually result in death. Signs of the disease include weight loss, excessive salivation, increased drinking and urination, abnormal behaviors, stumbling, trembling and depression.

There is no evidence the disease can be transmitted to humans.

The rules: Hunters who harvest a deer within the area during the two-week hunting season, Nov. 26 to Dec. 8, are required to bring their harvest to a mandatory check station for samples to be collected for testing, the commission said.

The check station is at the commission's maintenance building on State Game Land 249 at 1070 Lake Meade Road, East Berlin in Adams County.

Hunters within the disease management area cannot move "high-risk" deer, moose or elk parts outside the boundaries, the commission said.

Those parts include the head, spinal cord and backbone, as well as skull plate with attached antlers that have visible brain or spinal cord tissue and upper teeth with visible root structure or soft tissue.

Parts not considered high risk are meat without the backbone; cleaned skull plate with antlers and tanned or raw hide, all with no visible brain or spinal tissue present; and upper canine teeth with no root structure or other soft tissue visible.

The commission said hunters cannot use or process cervid urine-based attractants within the disease management area, as such usage would cause deer to gather in certain areas, increasing the possibility for disease to spread.

Deer harvested prior to or after the hunting season can be brought to the station on a voluntary basis, according to the commission.

The boundaries: The disease management area's boundary essentially cuts York County in half, with the affected area starting north of Route 116 west of York and continuing east to the Susquehanna River, north of Route 462.

In Adams County, it includes New Oxford, McSherrystown, Bonneauville, and areas around Gettysburg and Biglerville.