A bull elk with CWD in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. Credit: USGS
Another challenge to detecting the presence of prions in humans is their long latency. Infected deer meat might not cause a neurological disease for many years, at which point the earlier meat consumption and the illness may seem unconnected.
Hunters are on the front lines of the disease around the world. While some people no longer eat wild game, Steve Rinella, the host of the television series MeatEater, says that most of the hunters he talks to say that since CWD has not been seen in humans, they do not worry about it. “That would change dramatically if a hunter got CWD,” he said. “It would be a nightmare if a hunter got CWD.”
The threat poses a unique concern to Indigenous people who rely on wild game. “White-tailed deer are an important cultural and food resource to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe,” said Tanya Roerick, the wildlife program director for the tribe. “Not for sport, but to sustain their family and spiritual connections.”
CWD has been found in three places within 15 miles of the reservation, she said, and threatens the Ojibwe way of life. For years, the tribe has been providing free CWD testing of deer harvested by tribal members. That surveillance, said Roerick, “will continue for the foreseeable future.”
