This one comes up for two different reasons: people who hunt or eat venison and want to know what to do, and people who have read an alarming headline. Both are answered below from the same source.
What it is and where it is
A prion disease of deer, elk, moose and similar animals. The CDC reports it in the United States, Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden and South Korea. In the United States it was first identified in captive deer in the 1960s and has been reported in wild deer in 36 states, and the CDC notes it may be present in other states without having been reported.
How it spreads between animals
Scientists believe the prions pass between animals in body fluids including faeces, saliva, blood and urine, either by direct contact or through contaminated soil, food or water. Prions can remain in soil for years, which is why the disease is hard to clear from an area once it is established.
Can people catch it?
The CDC’s position, on its page dated 21 January 2026, is that the disease has not been shown to infect people. No human infections have been reported, and it is not known whether people could be infected.
It does not stop there, and neither should this page. Some studies in monkeys suggest primates could acquire the disease by eating infected deer or elk meat or brain tissue, so the CDC says it could theoretically be a risk to people, and that if it did spread to people the most likely route would be eating meat from an infected animal. Scientists are still studying the question.
Those two statements belong together. There is no demonstrated human case, and the question is open rather than closed.
For context on human prion disease, the 2026 review describes about 85 percent of human cases as sporadic CJD, with no known genetic or environmental trigger, and acquired forms as exceedingly rare.
What the CDC advises people who hunt
Do not shoot, handle or eat an animal that looks sick, is behaving strangely, or was found dead.
When field dressing or handling meat, wear latex or rubber gloves, avoid the internal organs and particularly the brain and spinal cord, and do not use kitchen utensils for the job.
Check your state wildlife and health recommendations before hunting, because testing recommendations vary by state.
Where the disease occurs, strongly consider having the animal tested before eating it, and consider having it processed individually rather than mixed with other animals.
If the animal tests positive, do not eat its meat.
If you have eaten venison in an affected area
There is no test that can tell you anything about yourself, and no reason to seek one. Any new neurological symptom is worth taking to a doctor on its own merits, as it would be for anyone. I am worried about exposure covers what questions can and cannot be answered, and myths and facts addresses some of the claims that circulate.
Related pages
BSE, scrapie, the animal prion diseases hub and safety. For the research literature, including strain differences between North American and Nordic isolates and the work on species barriers, see chronic wasting disease in the research section.