The disease in deer and elk is called chronic wasting disease or cwd. This
sounds better than the infamous "mad cow disease", however they are closely
related. I hunted Colorado this fall and they go into great detail on how to
safely handle the meat. To date, there are no known cases of humans
contacting the disease.
As for diseased fish, thats all nonsense as far as I can tell. However, if
someone read it on the internet, it must be true!
Gordon

On a related note, I read recently that mad cow disease has been found in
deer and elk out west. I don't recall the means of infection, but it was
very simple. Happy hunting. Time to become vegetarians soon.