Chronic wasting disease

**Chronic wasting disease** (**CWD**), dem sam times call **zombie deer disease**, be a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) wey dey affect deer. TSEs be a family of diseases wey misfolded proteins dem call prions cause den dey include similar diseases such as mad cow disease insyd cattle, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease insyd humans, den scrapie insyd sheep. Natural infection wey dey cause CWD dey affect members of de deer family. Insyd de United States, CWD dey affect mule deer, white-tailed deer, red deer, sika deer, elk, antelope, caribou, den moose. Na de transmission of CWD to oda species such as squirrel monkeys den humanized mice be observed insyd experimental settings.

Insyd 1967, na dem first identify CWD insyd mule deer at a government research facility insyd northern Colorado, United States. Na dem initially recognize am as a clinical "wasting" syndrome den then insyd 1978, na dem identify am more specifically as a TSE disease. Since then, na dem find CWD insyd free-ranging den captive animal populations insyd 33 US states den five Canadian provinces. In addition, na dem find CWD insyd one Minnesota red deer farm, one wild reindeer herd insyd Norway (March 2016) as well as insyd wild moose. Na dem find single cases of CWD insyd moose insyd Finland (March 2018) den insyd Sweden (March den May 2019, September 2020). Na dem find CWD insyd South Korea insyd sam deer imported from Canada. CWD be typified by chronic weight loss den clinical signs compatible plus brain lesions, aggravated over time, always dey lead to death.

Although na dem make reports insyd de popular press of humans being affected by CWD, na a 2004 study for de Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conclude say "more epidemiologic and laboratory studies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions". Na a 2019 study add say "the potential exists for transmission to humans and subsequent human disease". Na de epidemiological study further conclud, "as a precaution, hunters should avoid eating deer and elk tissues known to harbor the CWD agent (e.g., brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes) from areas where CWD has been identified". Insyd April 2024, na dem reveal say na two men from de same hunting group contract Creutzfeldt–Jakob, wey prompt medical researchers to speculate na transmission occur from consuming CWD-positive venison.

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## External links

* This entry incorporates public domain text originally at What is chronic wasting disease? Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
* Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance
*  About Chronic wasting disease (CWD) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
* Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk. Canadian Food Inspection Agency
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* CWD information & testing. Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
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* Chronic wasting disease management. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
* Chronic wasting disease (CWD). Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
* Chronic wasting disease. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
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* Chronic wasting disease. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
* Chronic wasting disease. Wyoming Game & Fish Department.
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