Is chronic wasting disease transmissible to humans?
According to public health officials and wildlife experts, there is no scientific evidence indicating that CWD can be transmitted to humans. In fact, research conducted at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, a National Institutes for Health centre, has determined a molecular barrier exists that significantly limits the susceptibility of humans, cattle and sheep. Although scrapie in sheep has been studied and consumed by humans for more than 200 years, it has never crossed the species barrier to humans. In addition, there is no real-life evidence that CWD can be transmitted from deer and elk to cattle. According to John Pape, an epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Health, “There is no indication that chronic wasting disease is a threat to human health.
