SUPPLY & DEMAND

Sportsmen across the country remain concerned about the possibility that chronic wasting disease might someday spread from the deer they consume to humans. But that does not appear to be a possibility at this time, according to Brent Race, a researcher at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a federally funded infectious disease research center where he has studied the disease for decades.

Since first being discovered in Colorado mule deer research facilities in 1967, CWD has generated much angst among deer hunters, primarily because of Mad Cow Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, both of which have been discovered in humans. Another prion disease, scrapie, which has been found in sheep, has been in existence for centuries, but has never been transmitted to humans, helps assuage the acute concern. However, the proliferation of unsubstantiated press releases, such as the recent article titled “Zombie Disease,” (published in USA Today) wrongly portraying CWD, only fuels the concerns of those who enjoy eating venison.

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