Chronic wasting disease prions in cervids and wild pigs in North America Preliminary Outbreak Assessment DEFRA 26 January 2026

 Chronic wasting disease prions in cervids and wild pigs in North America Preliminary Outbreak Assessment DEFRA 26 January 2026

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Preliminary Outbreak Assessment

Chronic wasting disease prions in cervids and wild pigs in North America

26 January 2026

Disease report

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of cervids, such as deer, elk, moose and reindeer. It is caused by prions – infectious proteins that cause normal cellular prion proteins to misfold (CIDRAP, 2025). The disease is widespread in captive and free-ranging cervids in North America (Figure 1). For the first time, CWD prions have also been detected in the tissues of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) caught in CWD-affected areas of the USA (Soto et al. 2025). This discovery emerged from a study designed to investigate potential interactions between wild pigs and CWD prions, as wild pigs often coexist with cervids, which can shed prions into the environment. The following assessment discusses the epidemiology of CWD in North America and the detection of CWD prions in wild pigs. It also considers the potential implications for Great Britain.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/697a3b013c71d838df6bd413/CWD_Prions_in_Cervids_and_Wild_Pigs_in_North_America.pdf

THURSDAY, JANUARY 08, 2026

Confucius Ponders, what about Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) and CWD TSE Prion, and the Environment, what if?

Confucius Ponders, what about Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa), they can cover some distance rather quickly, what about Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) digging up the terrain, and as they do it, what if these Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) were exposed to CWD TSE Prion, and then they go on exposing and saturating the land with CWD TSE Prion, then the soil becomes contaminated with CWD TSE Prion, then what about the plants that grow from that soil for the decades to come, what if???

https://prpsc.proboards.com/thread/190/confucius-ponders-wild-pigs-scrofa

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2026/01/confucius-ponders-what-about-wild-pigs.html

https://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2025/08/infectious-prions-in-brains-and-muscles.html

https://madporcinedisease.blogspot.com/2024/12/detection-of-prions-in-wild-pigs-sus.html

https://madporcinedisease.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-agent-of-chronic-wasting-disease.html

https://madporcinedisease.blogspot.com/2021/06/porcine-spongiform-encephalopathy-pse.html

https://madporcinedisease.blogspot.com/

***> CWD Action Plan National Program 103 Animal Health 2022-2027 UPDATE JANUARY 2026

https://prpsc.proboards.com/thread/189/action-national-program-animal-health

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2026/01/cwd-action-plan-national-program-103.html

***> SCRAPIE TSE Prion USA RAPID RESPONSE URGENT UPDATES DECEMBER 25, 2025

***> CWD vs Scrapie Urgent Update

https://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/2025/12/scrapie-tse-prion-usa-rapid-response.html

https://prpsc.proboards.com/thread/186/scrapie-prion-response-urgent-updates

***> 2026 USDA EXPLANATORY NOTES, APHIS, CWD, BSE, Scrapie, TSE, Prion

https://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2025/12/2026-usda-explanatory-notes-aphis-cwd.html

Research Project: Elucidating the Pathobiology and Transmission of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Location: Virus and Prion Research

2025 Annual Report

https://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2025/12/ars-research-elucidating-pathobiology.html

USDA National Scrapie Program History and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE TSE Update 2025 and history there from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/396084947_USDA_National_Scrapie_Program_History_and_Bovine_Spongiform_Encephalopathy_BSE_TSE0AUpdate_2025

APHIS USDA Captive CWD Herds Update by State December 2025 Update

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2025/12/aphis-usda-captive-cwd-herds-update-by.html

https://prpsc.proboards.com/thread/187/aphis-captive-herds-update-december

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2025

USDA EXPLANATORY NOTES ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE 2025-2014 CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE CERVID

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2025/09/usda-explanatory-notes-animal-and-plant.html

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2025

USDA National Scrapie Program History and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE TSE Update 2025

https://bovineprp.blogspot.com/2025/09/usda-national-scrapie-program-history.html

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2025

USDA National Scrapie Program History and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE TSE Update 2025

https://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/2025/09/usda-national-scrapie-program-history.html

THURSDAY, JANUARY 08, 2026

Confucius Ponders, what about Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) and CWD TSE Prion, and the Environment, what if?

Confucius Ponders, what about Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa), they can cover some distance rather quickly, what about Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) digging up the terrain, and as they do it, what if these Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) were exposed to CWD TSE Prion, and then they go on exposing and saturating the land with CWD TSE Prion, then the soil becomes contaminated with CWD TSE Prion, then what about the plants that grow from that soil for the decades to come, what if???

https://prpsc.proboards.com/thread/190/confucius-ponders-wild-pigs-scrofa

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2026/01/confucius-ponders-what-about-wild-pigs.html

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2025

US NATIONAL PRION DISEASE PATHOLOGY SURVEILLANCE CENTER CJD TSE REPORT 2025

https://prionunitusaupdate.blogspot.com/2025/10/us-national-prion-disease-pathology.html

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025

While no one was watching: Tenuous status of CDC prion unit, risk of CWD to people worry scientists

https://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2025/11/while-no-one-was-watching-tenuous.html

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2026

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a review

https://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2026/01/neuropsychiatric-symptoms-in-sporadic.html

https://prpsc.proboards.com/thread/191/neuropsychiatric-symptoms-sporadic-cjd-review

Terry S. Singeltary Sr