Chronic Wasting Disease – the slow death of deer

Everyone old enough will remember the footage of confused ataxic cows that were not able to stand on their own anymore. The 1990s were the time of Mad Cow Disease, an illness caused by a misfolded protein, the prion. While mad cow disease in Europe is well under control by now, a similar illness is currently spreading in the US. Not in cows this time but in deer. What it does to deer and how it has the potential to effect humans, we will chat about with our guest Heather Inzalaco.

Chronic wasting disease affects a large variety of deer species including this white-tailed deer.

Heather is a PhD candidate in wildlife diseases at the University of Wisconsin Madison and thinks outside the box to identify hidden ways of how the disease is spread.

Listen in to Cat’s and Heather’s chat about all things chronic wasting disease.

Heather loves the outdoors and isn’t even put off by the icy winters in Wisconsin.