Prions are some scary shit. Prions are implicated in Mad Cow Disease (BSE) and Creutzfeld-Jacobs Disease (CJD) in humans. Now they are suspected in Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), something that has recently shown up in Wisconsin deer. It is not believed that CWD can infect humans, but there are three hunters who died in Wisconsin from brain disease, two from CJD specifically. The three hunted together and CJD is rare enough that it is scary that infected two guys who knew each other and practiced similar eating habits.
Prions are believed to be infectious agents that are neither virus nor bacteria. They are molecules that reproduce by transforming molecules they come in contact with. It is theorized that it would be much easier for Prions to leap between species because they don't have to infect cells or defeat the immune system of the animal they are infecting, they just have to get into the blood.
The State of Wisconsin is destroying the deer herd in a three county area where CWD was discovered and testing thousands of deer all over the state. Minnesota DNR is testing for this as well. The Wisconsin DNR has maps and information about CWD up on their site.
If you think I am being alarmist, check the national news site for CWD for a real horror show.
3:12:04 PM 
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Insight into how the DNR manages fisheries. Wednesday morning I saw the hows and whys of fish growth calculation demonstrated and for anyone interested in fisheries biology, I wrote up a detailed description 