The recording of the first case of chronic wasting disease, commonly referred to as "zombie deer disease," in the United States has caused panic and concern among scientists and fears of the disease spreading to humans. The discovery of the first case in Yellowstone National Park last month has raised fears that this deadly brain disease could eventually be transmitted to humans, according to some scientists. Test results on a deer carcass in the park confirmed positivity for this highly contagious disease, which can also cause weight loss, stumbling, lethargy, and neurological symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Symptoms may take up to a year to appear. It has been dubbed "zombie deer disease" because it affects the brains and nervous systems of infected animals, leaving them drooling, lethargic, emaciated, stumbling, and with a "blank stare," according to the Guardian. Meanwhile, scientists have not yet found any known treatments or vaccines for it.
Additionally, scientists have raised alarm bells regarding the potential for humans to contract this disease, even though no known cases have been recorded so far. Epidemiologists have noted that the absence of registered cases does not mean that it will not happen.
The disease is part of a group of fatal neurological disorders that includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as "mad cow disease." Dr. Cory Anderson remarked that the outbreak of mad cow disease in the UK is an example of how things can go haywire overnight when transmission occurs from livestock to humans.
He added that another concern is the lack of a known effective and easy way to eradicate it, "neither from the animals it infects nor from the environment it contaminates," according to the Guardian. Anderson stated that once the environment is infected, it becomes exceedingly difficult to eliminate the pathogen.
The causative agent can persist for years in soil or on surfaces. Scientists reported that it is resistant to disinfectants, formaldehyde, radiation, and burning at a temperature of 1100°F, according to the Guardian. The CDC notes on its website that some studies conducted on animals indicate that the disease poses a risk to certain animal species, such as monkeys, that consume meat from infected animals or come into contact with the brain or body fluids of infected deer or elk.
