Chronic Wasting Disease of Cervids: Implications for Wildlife Management

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has recently emerged in North America as an important prion disease of captured and free-ranging cervids. This wildlife disease, endemic to southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, is the only recognized transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting free-ranging wildlife. We provide an overview of the research that has occurred on CWD over the past five years. The implications of CWD are not entirely clear at this time