What is chronic wasting disease? A look at ‘very concerning’ cases in Canada
Global News
Scientists say the latest detections of Chronic Wasting Disease show it keeps spreading, raising the risk it can infect more species.
Chronic wasting disease, a condition that fatally infects the brains of animals like deer, continues to spread in Canada and has been found for the first time in a new province.
The B.C. government announced on Thursday it had detected two cases of the disease in deer south of Cranbrook. Scientists already spotted it in 34 U.S. states and four other provinces.
The disease is highly contagious and affects members of the cervid family, like moose and elk, infecting their brains. Symptoms range from severe weight loss to paralysis and pneumonia, and result in the animals being separated from others in the herd.
It is always fatal and there is no vaccine or treatment.
“(The discovery in B.C.) is very concerning,” University of Calgary veterinary professor Sabine Gilch said, “because usually if there are two animals that are detected, then there will be more.”
Researchers said the spread is worrying because it represents a threat to deer and elk populations and because the more it spreads, the more chances it has to spread to other animals.
They told Global News that research indicates it is unlikely CWD could jump to humans. But given that there are no vaccines or treatments, the possibility of human infection is unsettling.
Chronic wasting disease is caused by prions — a misshapen version of normally-occurring proteins in the brain.
