Chronic Wasting Disease Part II

Photo Credit: Wyoming Game and Fish Department

As we reported yesterday, Chronic Wasting Disease continues its push towards western Wyoming’s winter elk feedgrounds and Yellowstone National Park.
In part one of Edward O’Brien’s feature interview, Dr. Bruce  Smith explained the science behind CWD.
In short, it’s a terrible, infectious disease that slowly saps the life from Whitetail and Mule deer, Elk and even Moose. There is no known vaccine or treatment, animals do not develop immunities to it and it’s 100-percent fatal.
Montana had a close call with C-W-D when it was discovered in a Granite County game farm in the late 90’s, but no cases have been discovered in wild herds.
Smith, a retired U.S Fish and Wildlife Service biologist says C-W-D is something the public and policy-makers simply must pay close attention to.
Tonight, Smith continues his discussion with O’Brien with an explanation of why C-W-D is so prevalent in states like Wyoming, while Montana – at least so far – remains unscathed.

Chronic Wasting Disease in Wyoming continues its march north and west

photo courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish Department

Chronic Wasting Disease is on the move towards western Wyoming’s winter elk feedgrounds and Yellowstone National Park.
A retired U.S Fish and Wildlife Service biologist says this is something the public and policy-makers need to pay close attention to.
Dr. Bruce Smith is a former senior biologist at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming and author of “Where Elk Roam: Conservation and Biopolitics of Our National Elk Herd.”
In the first of our two-part interview, Smith, a resident of Sheridan, Montana,  explains to Edward O’Brien the basic science behind C-W-D.
In short, it’s an insidious, highly transmissible disease that sticks around in its environment: