NIH Study Confirms: Humans Unlikely To Catch Deer Prion Disease

Research on cerebral organoids provides strong evidence for a significant species barrier.
A recent study employing a human cerebral organoid model to investigate prion diseases indicates a significant species barrier that blocks the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from cervids—such as deer, elk, and moose—to humans. Conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, the study’s results align with many years of similar research conducted at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).