Russ Mason: Recent report is good news, but falls short on ‘proof’ that CWD can’t infect humans

Several weeks ago, a published abstract entitled: “Rare and Fatal Brain Disease in Two Deer Hunters Heightens Concerns about CWD” appeared in the journal Neurology.

Not surprisingly, it was picked up by the popular press and created quite a stir. In the end, it turned out that the data didn’t really warrant “heightened concerns” for a variety of reasons (e.g., CWD was only identified in the hunter’s area after both hunters were diagnosed). Now, another paper, this time in Emerging Infectious Diseases, suggests that the species barrier is so strong that CWD spill-over may be an unwarranted concern.
Without question, these findings are good news. But at the same time (this is important), the data are just “another brick in the wall.” They are not proof that CWD can’t infect humans.

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