Scientists issue warning over 'zombie deer disease' spreading to humans as cases surge in US
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Putu Wiaskara / 500px/Jeff Thompson / 500px
Scientists have issued a warning over a 'zombie deer disease' that could spread to humans as cases surge across the US.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), often dubbed as zombie deer disease, most of the time impacts deer, as you'd probably expect.
However, the disease also transmits among other animals, leaving them drooling, lethargic, stumbling and with a blank stare.
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The disease has been found in more than 800 samples of deer, elk and moose across the US state of Wyoming - leaving scientists concerned.
Wildlife disease ecologist Krysten Schuler told Fox 5: "They get this abnormal protein and it causes them, over a year or two, to develop these holes in their brain so they can't feed themselves. Eventually they'll die."
But experts have now warned the disease could soon become a 'slow-moving disaster' and have urged governments across the globe to prepare for the possibility of CWD spreading to humans in the future.
CWD researcher Dr Cory Anderson told the Guardian: "The BSE [mad cow disease] outbreak in Britain provided an example of how, overnight, things can get crazy when a spillover event happens from, say, livestock to people.
"We’re talking about the potential of something similar occurring. No one is saying that it’s definitely going to happen, but it’s important for people to be prepared."
Dr Raina Plowright, a disease ecologist at Cornell University, added that the disease should be viewed against a backdrop of dangerous emerging zoonotic pathogens.
These pathogens are said to be moving back and forth across species including humans across the entire globe.
As for humans, any potential outbreaks could occur due to settlements and agricultural operations delving deeper into environments where animals carrying the disease roam.
This will particularly become a concern in the US as hunting season gets underway.
As a result, the US Centers for Disease Control is recommending that harvested game animals be tested for disease, while meat from cervids that appear ill should not be consumed.
Dr Thomas Roffe told the Guardian: "The science of what’s needed to help slow the spread of CWD is clear, and has been known for a long time.
"You don’t feed wildlife in the face of a growing disease pandemic."
He added: "We’re still at the front end of a scary disease event, and we don’t know where it’s headed.
"There’s a lot at stake for the Yellowstone ecosystem, and a lot at stake for all Americans who enjoy having healthy wildlife on the landscape."
Studies have also found wildlife predators such as wolves, cougars and bears are able to detect sick animals long before humans do.
They tend to prey on them and remove the animals with the disease from the landscape, and have so far been immune to the disease.