chronic wasting disease

noun

veterinary medicine

: a progressive, fatal prion disease of deer, elk, and moose that is characterized by weight loss, tremors, lack of coordination, drooling, excessive thirst, and listlessness

Since it was first identified two decades ago in deer in Colorado, chronic wasting disease has spread to a dozen states (including New York) and two Canadian provinces.

—Sandra Blakeslee

Scientists have identified a handful of diseases caused by misfolded proteins called prions, including mad cow disease, scrapie in sheep, and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk.

—Nathan Seppa

—abbreviation CWD

Examples of chronic wasting disease in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yellowstone National Park has confirmed its first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on Tuesday after a deer carcass in the park tested positive for the highly contagious and fatal brain disease. —Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 16 Nov. 2023

The four northwestern Wisconsin counties were placed under the ban Sept. 1 after the finding of chronic wasting disease in a bull elk at Smoking Gun Elk, an elk breeding farm northwest of Shell Lake. —Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2023

No chronic wasting disease has been detected in Wisconsin's wild elk, according to the DNR. —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 25 May 2023

That regulation was put in place because of concerns surrounding chronic wasting disease, the highly infectious and fatal neurological disease affecting deer, elk, and other cervids. —Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 9 May 2023

The infected deer was killed by a hunter in 2021 and sampled at that time for chronic wasting disease, a type of neurodegenerative disorder that affects deer, elk and moose. —Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023

Michigan has two ongoing diseases persisting in its deer herd: bovine tuberculosis in the northeastern Lower Peninsula, and chronic wasting disease throughout south-central Michigan. —Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press, 30 Oct. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above