Chronic Wasting Disease Spreading in Nebraska
Nebraska game officials have found 18 deer with chronic wasting disease out of 3,310 tested.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a transmissible neurological disease of deer and elk that produces small lesions in brains of infected animals. It is characterized by loss of body condition, behavioral abnormalities and death. CWD is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), and is similar to mad cow disease in cattle and scrapie in sheep, according to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance.
One of the diseased deer was found in Hall County, Nebraska and that caused a long look at the situation by Mark Coddington at the Grand Island Independent. He notes that most CWD-infected deer in Nebraska are found in the Panhandle, but there were cases scattered about the state as far as 200 miles away from the enemic area.
The CWD Alliance notes that:
"Infectious agents of CWD are neither bacteria nor viruses, but are hypothesized to be prions. Prions are infectious proteins without associated nucleic acids. 
"Although CWD is a contagious fatal disease among deer and elk, research suggests that humans, cattle and other domestic livestock are resistant to natural transmission. While the possibility of human infection remains a concern, it is important to note there have been no verified cases of humans contracting CWD. "
Coddington reports that the rate of CWD in Nebraska at about 1 percent is far from the 5 percent rate in Colorado and Wyoming. "The red flag for us is that it has spread,: says Bruce Trindle, who heads up big game research for Nebraska.
