As of January 2021, CWD in free-ranging deer, elk and/or moose has been reported in at least 25 states in the continental United States, as well as two provinces in Canada.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) kills every deer, elk and moose it infects by slowly boring holes in their brains. Our hunt region has one of the highest-known prevalence rates on the continent in deer.
Our analysis predicts that pronghorn antelope are more likely to be susceptible to CWD than any of the species we tested; bighorn sheep and mountain goat have a small probability of susceptibility, while bison are predicted to be resistant.
In deer, CWD spreads through contaminated bodily fluids, tissue, drinking water and food, the CDC says. The disease affects deer's brains and spinal cords through abnormal prion proteins that damage normal prion proteins, the CDC said.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is an always fatal, contagious, neurological disease affecting deer species (including reindeer), elk, and moose. It causes a characteristic spongy degeneration of the brains of infected animals resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death.
Remove the head at the first vertebrae behind the skull. If you harvest a buck, cut off the antlers at the base or the skull plate with a saw before submitting. You will not be able to get the antlers back if you submit them to the lab.
Currently, there's no treatment or vaccine. “Big game like deer and elk are valued by people for food, and they're culturally important to tribal communities and hunters in North America,” said Bryan Richards, emerging disease coordinator at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center.
Animals known to be infected with CWD should not be consumed. Animals and related products known to be infected with CWD are prohibited from entering Canada's food supply. All deer taken to abattoirs in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Yukon are tested for CWD.
Chronic wasting disease is now found in 26 US states and 3 provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec). It has also been found in South Korea and, more recently, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Once present in wild cervids, it is very difficult to stop its spread.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease, also known as "zombie deer disease," in 24 states and two Canadian provinces.
If you have your deer or elk commercially processed, consider asking that your animal be processed individually to avoid mixing meat from multiple animals. If your animal tests positive for CWD, do not eat meat from that animal.
The most obvious sign of CWD is progressive weight loss. Numerous behavioral changes also have been reported, including decreased social interaction, loss of awareness, and loss of fear of humans. Diseased animals also may exhibit increased drinking, urination, and excessive salivation.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease found in deer, elk, and moose that affects the brain and nervous system. It has not been found in British Columbia (B.C.) but has been detected in wild or captive deer, elk and moose in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Québec, and 26 U.S. states including Montana.
According to the CDC, this disease is present in at least 24 states in the United States and two provinces in Canada. Cases have also been reported in Norway, Finland and South Korea. Chronic wasting disease was first reported in Colorado in the late 1960s.
Scientists have not ruled out fecal to oral transmission of CWD from deer to humans. That means if you touch contaminated deer droppings and then put your fingers in your mouth, or you touch something that then goes into your mouth, both diseases could possibly be transmitted.
The maximum disease course is unknown, but can exceed 25 months in experimentally infected deer and 34 months in elk. The youngest animal diagnosed with clinical CWD was 17 months old at death, suggesting 16-17 months may be the minimum natural incubation period.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
has been detected in 26 US
states and three Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids and/or commercial captive cervid facilities.
Distribution of CWD in the United States.
| State | Free-ranging cervids | Captive Cervids |
|---|
| Virginia | Y | |
| West Virginia | Y | |
| Wisconsin | Y | Y |
| Wyoming | Y | |
Chronic wasting disease is caused by a misfolded protein called a prion. All mammals produce normal prions that are used by cells, then degraded and eliminated, or recycled, within the body. When disease-associated prions contact normal prions, they cause them to refold into their own abnormal shape.
Cooking does not destroy the CWD prion. The following precautions are recommended to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious diseases when handling or processing animals: Do not handle or eat deer or other game that appear sick, act strangely, or are found dead.
CWD is an always-fatal brain-damaging disease in the deer family. There is no cure and no live-animal test. Scientists originally discovered it in a captive elk in Colorado in 1967.
Overwhelmingly, the body of evidence suggests that, yes, deer meat is safe to eat. But the CDC continues to recommend that hunters who are harvesting deer or elk in CWD-infected areas have their animals tested, even if they aren't showing symptoms of illness. Avoid shooting, handling or eating animals that appear sick.
Is CJD contagious? In theory, CJD can be transmitted from an affected person to others, but only through an injection or consuming infected brain or nervous tissue. There's no evidence that sporadic CJD is spread through ordinary day-to-day contact with those affected or by airborne droplets, blood or sexual contact.
A prion is a type of protein that can trigger normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. Prion diseases can affect both humans and animals and are sometimes spread to humans by infected meat products. The most common form of prion disease that affects humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
There isn't a viable case study for chronic wasting disease as it has not been proven to affect dogs, or any other species outside of cervidae (deer, elk, moose).
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is not a concern for you or your pet in serving RAW WILD raw meat dog food. Not only is it highly unlikely the meat contains CWD, but it is not transmissible to you, your dog, cattle, or any species outside of the cervid family (deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer, and moose).
To destroy a prion it must be denatured to the point that it can no longer cause normal proteins to misfold. Sustained heat for several hours at extremely high temperatures (900°F and above) will reliably destroy a prion.
Concerns Grow That Infections From 'Zombie Deer' Meat Can Jump To Humans : The Salt Chronic Wasting Disease, a deadly neurological disorder similar to Mad Cow, has been detected in 24 states. So far it has posed no risk to people, but a new Canadian study has prompted more testing.
