USGS Frequently Asked Questions

Answer:

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first recognized in 1967 as a clinical syndrome of unknown etiology among captive mule deer Odocoileus hemionus at wildlife research facilities in Colorado (Williams and Young 1992). The disease was diagnosed in 1978 as a spongiform encephalopathy by histopathologic examination of CNS from affected animals. Shortly afterward CWD was recognized among captive deer in Wyoming (Williams and Young 1980). Diagnosis of CWD in Rocky Mountain elk from these same facilities quickly followed (Williams and Young 1982). Deer and elk in a few zoological gardens in the United States and Canada were identified with CWD in subsequent years (Williams and Young 1992). Apparently it did not persist in these locations. Chronic wasting disease has recently become a concern to the game farm industry following its diagnosis in elk in Saskatchewan, Canada, and in South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, and Oklahoma.

In 1981, CWD was recognized in a free-ranging elk in Colorado (Spraker et al. 1997). Subsequently, it was found in free- ranging elk in Wyoming, and in free-ranging mule deer [1985 (M.W. Miller unpublished)] and white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus [1990 (E.S. Williams unpublished)] in both states. The known distribution of CWD currently includes captive and free-ranging cervids in southeast Wyoming and north-central and northeast Colorado (Miller et al. 2000) and several game farms in the United States and Canada.

taken from Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies by Elizabeth S. Williams, James K. Kirkwood, and Michael W. Miller. Used by permission.