SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Two more cases of chronic wasting disease have been found in deer killed in eastern Utah by hunters, bringing to 20 the number of deer found in Utah with the disease.

The two deer were killed during the muzzleloader season in late September and early October.

One was killed in the LaSal Mountains east of Moab, where there now have been 14 deer identified with the disease. Biologists believe about 2 percent of the deer in that area have the disease.

The other deer was killed near the south end of Flaming Gorge Reservoir, about 20 miles north of the site where four other deer tested positive for the disease.

The only other case of CWD came from the Fountain Green area of central Utah in 2003.

"We've tested approximately 450 deer and elk so far this year, and these are the only animals that have tested positive for CWD," Leslie McFarlane, wildlife disease specialist for the Division of Wildlife Resources, said in a statement.

The agency expects to collect nearly 2,000 samples during the rifle deer hunt that starts Saturday.

The disease has been around at least 30 years in southeastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado, and since 2002 has been found in a number of other states.

CWD affects the nervous system of the victims. Animals with CWD develop brain lesions, lose weight and then die.

CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, similar to so-called "mad cow disease." A human form of the disorder is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Federal and state officials say there is no danger from eating animals with CWD, but suggest hunters avoid shooting animals that appear sick. They also suggest wearing rubber or latex gloves when cleaning an animal and minimize handling the brain, spinal cord, spleen and lymph nodes.

They say to bone out the meat and remove fat, membranes and connective tissue.