MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Chronic Wasting Disease is quietly spreading through Louisiana’s deer population, and state officials say it’s no longer just a distant threat.

CWD is a fatal brain disease that affects deer, and it can take up to two years before symptoms show. That means a deer might look perfectly fine when you spot it in the woods, but it could be infected.

“Just because a deer looks fine doesn’t mean it is,” said a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries spokesperson. “CWD hides — and it spreads.”

CWD is part of a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, similar to Mad Cow Disease. It causes brain damage, weight loss, strange behavior and eventually death.

According to the Center for Disease Control, “Chronic wasting disease is a type of pri

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