MADISON, Wis. — Chronic wasting disease has been in the U.S. deer herd for at least the past 30 years. Questions about why it got there and how it spreads have been around for just as long.
Experts on the disease gather in Madison this week to share their research on the disease found in the Wisconsin herd in February 2002, the first time it was discovered east of the Mississippi. The symposium of researchers, academics and wildlife officials will give them a chance to swap information and strategies on a disease that has spread beyond the Colorado areas where it was first discovered.
“In some respects, we know so much more than we did 10 years ago,” said Debbie McKenzie, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Science and a chair of a panel this week on the prions linked to CWD.