Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is endemic in a tri-corner area of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and new foci of CWD have been detected in other parts of the United States. A better alternative is scientifically sampling a geographic location and finding out if CWD is detectable in ANY of the deer in that area. Most look as healthy as the buck in the trail-camera photo above. It causes the animal’s brain to deteriorate and turn into a … Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) continues to worry deer biologists, managers and hunters across the country. Chronic wasting disease may have long-term negative effects on white-tailed deer, a highly visible and economically valuable keystone species, according to a new study from the USGS and published in Ecology. CWD has been diagnosed in white-tailed deer, mule deer, black-tailed deer, and hybrids thereof, as well as elk, red deer, moose, and reindeer. And that’s what we are going to do. While hunters may never encounter an animal with CWD in their lifetime, they could just as likely run into one hunting in areas like the Midwest or … For more information on Chronic Wasting Disease and Alberta's CWD management strategy, see: Chronic Wasting Disease. A few days after this photo was taken in November 2012, NDA member Bob Weiland of Wisconsin killed this buck, and the deer tested positive for CWD. It isn’t going away. Is CWD dangerous to humans? Like mad cow disease in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goats and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, it's caused not by a virus or bacteria, but by abnormal prions, or proteins. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a serious disease that kills members of the deer family such as mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose. Chronic wasting disease – also known as zombie deer disease – is a contagious, always-fatal disease that infects deer, elk and other cervid species. It’s only getting worse. Zombie deer disease spreads through animal contact, feces, or contaminated water or food. https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-causes-chronic-wasting-disease CWD was first detected in a captive deer in Colorado in the late 1960s and a wild deer in 1981. DNR has a plan to sample up to 500 deer in each county of the state (500 in each deer management unit surrounding the eradication zone). the brain tissue. Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, is a neurological disease that effects many of the animals that hunters prize like whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, and moose. Although detection in some areas may be related to increased surveillance, introduction of CWD due to translocation or natural migration of animals may account for some new foci of infection. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Chronic Wasting Disease is a neurological disease that affects members of the cervid family (deer, elk, moose, and reindeer/caribou). What does a deer with chronic wasting disease (CWD) look like? Most researchers believe CWD is caused by an abnormal protein referred to as a prion. What animals get CWD? CWD-infected deer, on average, do not display clinical symptoms of disease for 18 to 24 months. Many people aren’t aware of CWD, or simply don’t understand the full breadth of the threat it poses. As of right now, there is no medicine, treatment, or vaccine to cure or treat Chronic Wasting Disease. Chronic wasting disease is a contagious, neurological disease found in elk, deer, and moose.