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

Roadkill also places a physical and environmental burden on waste management facilities to take in hundreds of carcasses annually, some which could spread chronic wasting disease. —Cleo Krejci, Journal Sentinel, 10 Oct. 2024

There have been no cases of chronic wasting disease in people to date, the CDC says. —Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 4 June 2024

Wyoming hunter Meg Stanton had to reread her mule deer’s chronic wasting disease results a couple times. —Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 24 July 2024

Though prion diseases are, in some cases, contagious, a federal study earlier this year concluded that chronic wasting disease, found in deer, elk and moose, is very unlikely to pass to people who eat the meat of sick animals. —Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 27 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above