S6 E2: Don't Eat Those Brains! The Story of Chronic Wasting Disease

Who’s Who Outside of the Zoo has begun! Hello and welcome to Cause of Death – 100 Seconds to Midnight. I’m your host, Jackie Moranty. Here we are in Season Six. This season is dedicated to wildlife disease and conservation. I’ve been trying to keep seasons at about 8 episodes, but this one may run a little longer. There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to wildlife disease and conservation and the way that they come together. I’ll be introducing some things that we haven’t talked about previously. Many of the diseases of wildlife are obscure and though the symptoms may sound like a virus or a bacterial infection, they could be something completely different. This brings us to today’s episode. Chronic Wasting Disease in cervids. It’s caused by an organism that we haven’t talked about before. It’s a prion. I’m the first to admit that I’m terrified of prions. They’re unpredictable, they’re incurable and they’re fatal. The worst thing about them is that they take years to manifest, so you don’t know you have one until it’s too late to do much about it. Sound terrifying? Keep listening! I’m going to be doing a special 100 Seconds to Midnight episode in Season 7. I’d like those of you who had experiences growing up during the Cold War to talk about those experiences. If you’d like to be a guest on the show, I can arrange that. If you’d rather just write your stories and send them in, that’s fine, too. I can read them. These stories are important, and they need to be heard. Please participate if you can. You can reach me on the website at http://www.causeofdeath100secs.net or you can email me at mailto:Jackie@causeofdeath100secs.net. My Link Tree can be found at: https://linktr.ee/CauseofDeathpod CWD Show Notes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5874178/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2877840/ https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/transmission.html#:~:text=Scientists%20believe%20CWD%20proteins%20(prions,of%20soil%2C%20food%20or%20water. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7173489/#:~:text=Finally%2C%20we%20discuss%20prions.,properties%20of%20size%20and%20infectiousness. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prion-diseases https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prion-diseases https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-a-prion-specifica/ https://www.doi.gov/ocl/chronic-wasting-disease https://www.nps.gov/articles/cwd.htm https://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/health_program/chronic_wasting/ https://wildlifemanagement.institute/outdoor-news-bulletin/december-2017/what-hunters-can-do-stop-chronic-wasting-disease https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-a-prion-specifica/ https://www.deerfriendly.com/deer-disease/chronic-wasting-disease/possible-origins-of-chronic-wasting-disease https://cwd-info.org/cwd-overview/ https://cwd-info.org/timeline/ https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/programs/nwrc/sa_spotlight/accomplishments_chronic_wasting_disease...