All You Need To Know About Zombie Deer Disease, Which Scientists Warn Could Affect Humans

Scientists in the US have warned about the ¡°zombie deer disease¡± which has affected hundreds of deer and could spread to humans also.

The Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) also known as zombie deer disease has been spreading across the US over the past few years among deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose.

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How Chronic Wasting Disease is spreading

But in recent months it has been spreading rapidly and to new locations. The Yellowstone National Park reported its first case of CWD in November this year.

According to the National Park Service around 10-15 per cent of the mule deer near Cody, Wyoming, that migrate into the southeast section of Yellowstone during the summer have CWD, which has been reported in 31 states across the US as of November this year.

CWD has also been found in three Canadian provinces.

Outside of North America, chronic wasting disease has been reported in reindeer and moose in Norway, Finland and Sweden, and a few imported cases have been reported in South Korea.

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Chronic Wasting Disease symptoms and cause

CWD spreads through bodily fluids such as faeces, saliva, blood or urine, currently has no treatment or vaccine.

The infection that leaves animals confused and drooling is described as a ¡°slow-moving disaster¡± as once an environment is infected, the pathogen is extremely hard to eradicate. It can persist for years in dirt or on surfaces, and scientists report it is resistant to disinfectants, formaldehyde, radiation and incineration at 600C.

What makes matters worse is that the disease can have an incubation period of over a year, and signs of the disease may develop slowly, which could mean that it could spread undetected for a long time.

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¡°We¡¯re dealing with a disease that is invariably fatal, incurable and highly contagious. Baked into the worry is that we don¡¯t have an effective easy way to eradicate it, neither from the animals it infects nor the environment it contaminates,¡± researcher Dr Cory Anderson, said.

Why Chronic Wasting Disease could affect humans

Scientists have also warned that CWD has the potential to jump species and eventually affect humans.

To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in people. However, some animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to certain types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk.

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