chronic wasting disease: deer and elk tongues
October 5, 2005Animal researchers have determined that the tongues of deer and elk contain prions, the infectious agent of chronic wasting disease. Before, the method by which one animal infected another has been an unknown.
When one animal licks another, or grazes near another, the infection passes easily from their tongues through saliva.
The disease is found in twelve states and two Canadian provinces. It is related to mad cow disease and sheep scrapie.
