Death on the Range (BSE in the US)

[Mari333]

Mike Miller accelerates to keep up with a cantering elk in an upmarket suburb of Estes Park, a town nestling beneath the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
"Some of the non-native plants are like ice cream to them," says the state wildlife vet as the animal veers away from the road and Miller gives up the chase.

Although elk are unpopular because they nibble the flowers, many are attracted by the food that local residents leave out for them. That is what sparks Miller's watchfulness. For the deer and elk here harbour chronic wasting disease (CWD), once regarded as an interesting local phenomenon, now a potential threat to human health and the US and state economies. Miller is keen to ensure this does not become his nation's BSE. Already around here as many as one in 10 deer, and half that proportion of elk, probably have CWD. The big fear is, of course, that this disease may spread directly to humans, either through venison or some other route. Or perhaps more seriously still, given the amount of beef eaten in the US, that it will spread to cattle, and then to humans. And the big problem is that deer and elk are hard to avoid in this country.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1017768,00.html