Five years ago, Colorado was among a handful of states that had a surveillance program for chronic wasting disease.

Today, nearly every state in the U.S. has a program, hoping it never finds that the fatal prion disease has infected its deer and elk herds.

First discovered in Colorado in 1967, CWD now has spread to 11 other states and two Canadian provinces.

Last year, Colorado found the disease in 248 deer and elk from 16,431 deer, elk and moose heads submitted for testing.

CWD is a neurological disease that attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior and lose bodily functions. Stricken animals always die. How it is transmitted and whether it affects all animals still is being studied.

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Source: Rocky Mountain News, Gary Gergardt
October 18, 2004

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