A lethal wildlife disease is stalking South Carolina. How ‘zombie deer’ threaten the state

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tom Hauge, a veteran wildlife biologist in Wisconsin, was told 21 years ago that a deadly disease had shown up in deer that roamed across the state’s southwest corner. He knew what that meant. Chronic wasting disease one day could spread across Wisconsin and deplete the deer population that had made his state well known as a rich hunting ground. It could even threaten human health. But as Hauge, one of Wisconsin’s top wildlife officials at the time, sought to control the spread, he was blocked by deer hunters and politicians who didn’t want interference with the state’s huntin...