Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that naturally affects members of the deer family. It belongs to a group of diseases caused by misfolded proteins called prions, a group that also includes mad cow disease in cattle, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and scrapie in sheep. In the United States it has been found in mule deer, white-tailed deer, red deer, sika deer, elk, caribou and moose. Experimental transmission of the disease to other species, including squirrel monkeys and humanized mice, has been observed under laboratory conditions.