Can humans get chronic wasting disease from deer?

A doe and her young fawn cross a road in Rocky Mountain National Park in May 2022. Chronic wasting disease has spread widely across the United States since it was first discovered in the park’s elk herd in 1981. RAY WISE/GETTY IMAGES

Results from brain organoids suggest it is hard for deer prions to infect human brains

In a new study exploring the risk chronic wasting disease poses to people, brain organoids — like those shown — were exposed to high doses of prions from white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk. None of the organoids were infected after 180 days, the length of the study. NIAID

By Erin Garcia de Jesus – Science News

Chronic wasting disease has been spreading among deer in the United States, which has raised concerns that the fatal neurological illness might make the leap to people. But a recent study suggests that the disease has a tough path to take to get into humans.

The culprit behind chronic wasting disease, or CWD, isn’t a virus or bacterium but a misfolded brain protein called a prion. A new study using miniature, lab-grown organs called organoids supports previous work, showing that CWD prions don’t infect human brain tissue. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING