Newsweek -- A Plague on the Plains

A mysterious wasting disease infecting herds of deer has turned the hunting season into a brutal slaughter

A MYSTERIOUS SICKNESS called chronic wasting disease, closely linked to the mad-cow illness that terrorized England, has been cropping up in elk and deer in the Rockies and the upper Midwest. There have been no documented cases of humans’ contracting the deadly brain disease, and health officials are not warning people to stop eating venison. But because of the way mad cow made its leap from cattle to humans—despite earlier reassurances that it couldn’t happen—government scientists are testing for danger. At this point, says Richard Race of the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, “we know hardly anything.”

This has been big news in rural areas in the West, including Texas for some months. The problem looks like it is getting worse, not better. Federal government should have some role in finding out what this is and if it affects humans but they want to avoid panic.