June 7, 2002 National Public Radio Talk of the NationIRA FLATOW,
host: For the rest of the hour, we're going to be talking about
chronic wasting disease. Now maybe you haven't heard about
chronic wasting disease, but you have heard about mad cow
disease. And now a strikingly similar disease is spreading among
deer and elk across the West and the Midwest, and it's called
chronic wasting disease. It's a brain disorder that cripples and
then kills its victims. And last fall, the US Department of
Agriculture called the disease an emergency after the infection
spread through a remote wildlife research facility in the
Colorado foothills. And now state wildlife officials are gearing
up to try to work against that disease that threatens to
devastate regional gaming and tourist economies. And today we're
going to ask an expert how much is known about the disease, what
the risks to people are and what federal officials are doing
about it. Joining me now is Elizabeth Williams, professor of
veterinary sciences, Universit