Chronic wasting disease is a contagious neurological ailment that’s somewhat similar to mad cow disease. It has spread rapidly among elk and deer populations across the US, causing what scientists describe as a spongy deformation of the brain. Despite one brief outbreak in New York, biologists here have managed to keep the ailment from spreading among whitetail deer.

According to the DEC, Pennsylvania officials confirmed that they had found an infected animal at a deer farm in New Oxford, Pennsylvania.

That means hunters who travel to Pennsylvania can bring butchered meat home only if it's cleaned before transport.

In a statement, DEC commissioner Joe Martens called the action “necessary to protect New York's population of deer and moose."

Chronic wasting disease was first identified in New York in 2005 but there have not been new cases here for seven years

According to the DEC, biologists in New York have changed their surveillance methods for monitoring deer and will concentrate on collecting tissues from taxidermists and deer processors.