Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, is a prion disease that affects cervids, ruminant animals that typically have males with antlers. Deer, elk, and moose are North American cervids. Animals with CWD display a range of symptoms that include drooling, extreme thirst, lethargy, an abnormally wide stance, tremors, and difficulty swallowing. The disease is fatal. The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states:
“CWD can be highly transmissible within deer and elk populations. The mode of transmission is not fully understood, but evidence supports the possibility that the disease is spread through direct animal-to-animal contact or as a result of indirect exposure to prions in the environment (e.g., in contaminated feed and water sources).”
The Department reports studies indicate that CWD is not transmissible to humans, but recommends that people, such as hunters, take precautions when coming in contact with cervids.
The Role of Prions in CWD
Michael Geschwind, MD, PhD, has made a YouTube video that explains what prions are and the role they play in CWD. Geschwind describes the way that normal prion proteins, which occur naturally in the body and mostly in the brain, change shape to become the prions responsible for CWD. When these abnormal prions contact normal prion proteins, they cause them to change shape, resulting in more abnormal prions. Thus, the disease spreads exponentially throughout the brain tissue.
Where Chronic Wasting Disease Occurs
According to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website, until recently the disease was thought to occur only in a contiguous area in northeastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming and southwestern Nebraska. However, it has also been found in several new areas in North America. The DHHS report also lists New Mexico, Illinois, Kansas, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The disease has been detected in both wild ranging and commercially raised game animals.
Chronic Wasting Disease Precautions for Hunters
Hunters who plan to harvest deer and other cervids in states where CWD has occurred need to check with the states’ departments of natural resources and wildlife management for instructions regarding handling and moving the meat, skulls, antlers and hides of these animals.
Even in states where CWD has not been detected, it is recommended that hunters take precautions when handling deer, elk, or moose. Boning out the animal as soon as possible greatly reduces the likelihood of contact with prions.
A video on the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website provides a detailed demonstration of boning out a deer immediately after field dressing. The hunter wears latex or rubber gloves, and removes the meat with a sharp knife, cutting through muscle and sinew, but not through bone. Since cutting through bone exposes the marrow which, along with lymph nodes, brain, and spinal tissue, contains concentrations of prions, the hunter uses a saw that is dedicated only to that task if he must cut through bone. All knives should be washed and disinfected with a chlorine bleach solution after each use.
Although Chronic Wasting Disease is a serious malady that is a threat to North American game animals, there is evidence to support the continued safe harvesting of deer, elk, and moose when hunters learn and follow recommended procedures.
Brenda Layman - I grew up in eastern Kentucky in a family that hunted, fished, hiked, and camped regularly. Although I moved to Ohio to become a teacher ...
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