A group of scientists from the University of Minnesotaâs Minnesota Center for Prion Research (MNPRO), have come up with a new tool in the fight against Chronic Wasting Disease that could lead to more efficient testing in the field and in turn potential slow the spread of the disease in this state and beyond. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects whitetail deer and for which there is no cure, has become a major problem in parts of Minnesota, and throughout some neighboring states like Wisconsin, over the last several years. Itâs a disease that has the potential to not only devastate the deer population in Minnesota, but to end deer hunting as we know it, if left unchecked.