The Spreading Plague of US 'Mad Deer' Disease

Share this

As we report in our book Mad Cow USA (available on this website as a free PDF download), the British and US governments' mishandling of the threat of mad cow-type diseases is a case study in how "PR crisis management" protects industry at the expense of human and environmental health. Now that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), dubbed 'mad deer disease,' is spreading across North America and tens of thousands of wild deer and elk are being slaughtered to desperately slow it down, the issue is finally getting some serious media attention such as today's excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal. Of course, increased media attention also is bringing atrocious and misleading reporting such as a recent article in National Review Online claiming that when "300 mg of supplemental copper" was used to treat CWD, it was cured. In reality, no such study exists and this National Review piece reads like bad fiction. How do they get away with publishing such inaccurate, undocumented claims? Web readers, beware.