Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is an emerging wildlife concern affecting deer populations across North America. As a fatal neurological disease, CWD poses a significant threat to deer, elk, moose, and reindeer. With the potential to devastate wildlife, it’s crucial that hunters, as stewards of the outdoors, play an active role in helping limit the spread of this disease.

What is Chronic Wasting Disease?

CWD belongs to a group of illnesses known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which also includes diseases like mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. It is caused by abnormal proteins called prions, which accumulate in the brain, spinal cord, and other tissues of infected animals, leading to severe neurological degeneration.

The disease spreads through contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids (saliva, urine, feces), as well as contaminated environments (soil and plants). CWD can incubate for months or years without visible signs, making it difficult to track its spread. Once symptoms begin to manifest, deer will show signs such as weight loss, lack of coordination, excessive salivation, and abnormal behavior. The disease is always fatal.

 The Spread of CWD

CWD was first identified in captive deer in Colorado in the 1960s, but it has since spread to free-ranging deer and elk in at least 30 U.S. states and several Canadian provinces. The geographic range of CWD continues to expand, as the disease spreads both naturally among deer and inadvertently through human activities, such as the transport of infected carcasses or contaminated equipment.