Last October, a mule deer buck died in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, north-west, Wyoming of a disease known as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

As the Zombie Deer Disease slowly and stealthily spreads across North-America, it has started to bring up concerns among scientists about the possibility that it may eventually affect humans. 

The disease was dubbed The Zombie Deer Disease due to the way it leaves the affected animals drooling and emaciated, stumbling with an unmistakable “blank stare” – hence the zombie reference in its name. Concerns about the disease were brought to the forefront primarily by hunters who had spotted the deer behaving unusually.

CWD is caused by abnormal, transmissible pathogenic agents called prions, and it is fatal, with no known treatments or vaccines. Till now, the disease only affects the cervidae family – that is, deer, reindeer, elk, moose and caribou. 

In the US and Canada, CWD has not garnered attention simply due to it affecting big-game animals, but also because of the fear that it could jump the species barrier and affect livestock, other mammals, birds or even humans. Epidemiologists say that the absence of a “spillover” case does not rule out the possibility of one.

Scientists report that once an environment is contaminated, the pathogen is extremely difficult to eradicate, persisting for years on surfaces or within dirt. They say that it is resistant to disinfectants, formaldehyde, radiation, as well as incineration at 600 degrees celsius. Additionally, many fear that it is putting Yellowstone Park’s ecosystem, as well as that of any other impacted area, in critical danger.

As the hunting season is well underway, the US Centers for Disease Control strongly recommends the testing of harvested game, and that meat from Cervids that appear ill should not be consumed.

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Photo credit: The Guardian