Chronic wasting disease is found in members of the deer family in USA, Canada, South Korea and Norway. It's similar to livestock diseases such as BSE (mad cow disease) infecting cattle and scrapie infecting sheep.
It could enter New Zealand on dirty hunting and camping equipment (as a contaminant of dirt, blood, and urine).
New Zealand deer herds and trophy animals are mostly disease free. If diseases like chronic wasting disease and foot-and-mouth disease get into New Zealand they will devastate our deer herds and hunting opportunities for tourists and local hunters.
If you are a hunter or tramper entering New Zealand from overseas:
Our biosecurity border staff are serious about preventing pests and disease from entering New Zealand. If you bring in dirty tramping and hunting gear or illegal imports you are likely to experience lengthy delays at the border, cleaning costs and infringement fines.