Holy shit that's wild. Well the good news is if it does jump the barrier I can trust in my fellow Americans to band together, trust advice from researchers, and get it handled quickly and with little to no needless death. Yep we'll be fine.
The real question that wasn't answered in the article: how does this disease spread? If it only spreads via eating parts of an infected animal, it's fairly easy to contain. If it spreads through bodily fluids, it's like HIV/AIDS and can be mitigated. If it spreads via contact (handshakes, doorknobs etc) it's a nightmare. If it somehow is airborne, well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpFzESVN-xU
And also fuck other hunters because conservation did their damndest to contain the disease where I hunt but people couldn't even do the barest of efforts, scoffed at conservation and science, to not bait the ficking deer to help keep it contained.
Now thanks to these dumbasses it's basically mandatory testing for everyone because the entire state is a hotbed of prions.
As a complex society, we are only as smart as our dumbest members. And some of us are so uneducated as to be a danger to the future of humanity. The only solution (I can see), is immediate mandatory education. Like full on collapse aware science, with studies and graphs. I’m talking fuck the military budget and dump every available dollar into education. It may not make a difference, but it’s our best shot for humanity.