In a scattershot pattern that now extends from coast to coast, continental US states have been announcing new hotspots of chronic wasting disease (CWD).
The contagious and always-fatal neurodegenerative disorder infects the cervid family that includes deer, elk, moose and, in higher latitudes, reindeer. There is no vaccine or treatment.
I didn’t even know it was my catnip until I found it, and I typically tend more toward the Cleo Abrams and Up and Atom types. But gosh, Manuel’s dark, kind eyes, compassionate and informed tone, and natural bedside manner really took some of the edge off the horror of prion diseases. Like, if he were the one who had to break the news to me that I had CJD and only had one torturous year remaining, it’d be slightly more palatable.