On Jan. 10, 2025, a study of chronic wasting disease (CDW), the prion disease that causes deer, elk and other cervids to waste away could someday jump to humans, but many hunters are not convinced they should worry. CWD—a 100 percent fatal illness in deer, elk and moose that has been in detected in 35 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces.

The science behind how or if CWD could spread to humans is murky. So far there hasn’t been a documented case in a human, but scientists say that people who eat infected game meat
such as venison could still be at risk. Some hunters aren’t keen on taking chances, especially when they depend on deer meat to feed their family. Other hunters don’t care.

Ongoing research continues to reveal new aspects of the disease, helping scientists understand more about cross-species infection and the potential of vaccines. Yet skepticism and disinformation about the legitimacy of CWD’s threat abound.

CWD is not created by a typical virus or bacterium. It’s caused by a prion—a misfolded protein that causes other proteins to fold abnormally, killing cells in what can become an expanding network of cell destruction that leads to a slow and undignified death.

Prion diseases such as CWD, mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are typically spread by ingestion, inhalation or by mouth. When a deer licks the saliva, feces or blood from of an already infected animal, a prion might slip into the body and begin its slow, fatal campaign. As CWD prions accumulate throughout the host’s brain and spinal cord, the widening destruction of tissue and cell function eventually—and always—leads to death.

CWD was first identified in northern Colorado in the 1960s, and Wisconsin found its first case in 2002. Almost immediately, the state sent in sharpshooters and hunters who killed thousands of deer throughout the state’s southern grasslands, where CWD was most prevalent. Killing female deer weakens a herd’s ability to grow, and officials thought that thinning out deer herds was the key to eradicating the disease and preserving wild herd health. A similar method of aggressive deer management worked in New York State, the only state to have successfully eradicated the disease in the wild.

Some research suggests that CWD could evolve to infect new species or jump to people through other animals. If the disease were to make a leap from deer to swine, for example, it might then jump from swine to humans. CWD is moving into areas in the southern United States where there are large, feral swine populations where the threat increases.