Transmission, Strain Diversity, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting several species of captive and free-ranging cervids. In the past few decades, CWD has been spreading uncontrollably, mostly in North America, resulting in a high increase of CWD incidence but also a substantially higher number of geographical regions affected. The massive increase in CWD poses risks at several levels, including contamination of the environment, transmission to animals cohabiting with cervids, and more importantly, a putative transmission to humans. In this review, I will describe the mechanisms and routes responsible for the efficient transmission of CWD, the strain diversity of natural CWD, its spillover and zoonotic potential and strategies to minimize the CWD threat.

Automated summary

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease that affects multiple species of cervids, and its uncontrolled spread in North America in the last few decades has posed risks to the environment, animals, and potentially humans. This review discusses the mechanisms and routes of CWD transmission, strain diversity, spillover and zoonotic potential, as well as strategies to minimize the threat of CWD.