Hmmm the article makes some gigantic leaps of logic.
So they are saying that about x% of cwd infected deer that they caught and collared didn't survive to the next year?
1. How old were the deer? What % of each group were near the natural end of their expected lifespan?
2. WHAT exactly caused death? Hunting? Cars? Weather? anything location specific? Other factors than CWD?
3. How does the data compare by age/sex/location to the natural mortality of the wild deer herd?
Correlation does not equal causation.