'Zombie deer' disease is spreading across the US - ABC ...

“Zombie deer” disease, also known as chronic wasting disease, is a type of prion disease that affects deer, elk, and moose. Prions are small, ... ABCNewsVideoLiveShowsCoronavirusJan.6RiotInterestSuccessfullyAddedWe'llnotifyyouherewithnewsaboutTurnondesktopnotificationsforbreakingstoriesaboutinterest?OffOnSTOCKPHOTO/GettyImagesIstheresuchathingas“zombiedeer?”Theanswerisyes,andtheymaybeyournewestneighbors.Sincethefirstreportof“zombiedeer”about50yearsago,sightingsofthedeerhavespreadtoseveralpartsoftheUnitedStates,mostlybecausethecauseofthediseasehasspreadaswell.“Zombiedeer,”ofcourse,havemoretodowithafataldiseasethanwithanykindofzombieflick.Whatis‘zombiedeer’disease?“Zombiedeer”disease,alsoknownaschronicwastingdisease,isatypeofpriondiseasethataffectsdeer,elk,andmoose.Prionsaresmall,abnormal,infectiousproteinsthatcauseproteinsinthebodytofoldabnormally,especiallyinthebrainandspinalcord.Thediseasegetsmoreseriousasitprogresses,anditisalwaysfatal.(MORE:Oh,deer:Canadianmantackledbydeer )“Alotoftheconcern[aboutchronicwastingdisease]isbasedonsomethingthatoccurredyearsago,”RyanMaddox,Ph.D.,epidemiologistattheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention,toldABCNews.Maddoxwasreferringtofearsfromanotherpriondisease,“madcow,”whichwasfirstfoundinEngland,whereitspreadtohumansastherarevariantCreutzfeldt-Jakobdisease.“Madcow”diseaseisnotwhatisaffectingthedeer.Wherecanchronicwastingdiseasebefound?AccordingtotheCDC,thisdiseaseispresentinatleast24statesintheUnitedStatesandtwoprovincesinCanada.CaseshavealsobeenreportedinNorway,FinlandandSouthKorea.ChronicwastingdiseasewasfirstreportedinColoradointhelate1960s.Sincethen,thediseasehasspreadtoinvolvestatesintheMidwest,Southeastandeastcoast.Theremaybeevenmorecasesthatwedonotyetknowabout.(MORE:DeerAttacksPuzzleWildlifeOfficials)Howischronicwastingdiseasespreadandhowcommonisit?Chronicwastingdiseaseisspreadbetweenanimalsthroughdirectcontactwithcontaminatedbodytissueorfluids(blood,saliva,urineorfeces),orthroughindirectcontactwithinfectedsoil,waterorfood.Onceintroducedtoanarea,thisdiseasecanspreadquicklyamonganimals.Evenafteraninfectedanimaldies,theriskofitspreadingtootheranimalscanlastalongtime.Althoughtheoverallrateofinfectionindeer,elkandmooseacrossthecountryislow,infectionratesmaybeashighas10to25percentinplaceswhereitiscommon.Whataresignsofchronicwastingdisease?Animalswithchronicwastingdiseasemaynotshowitforseveralmonthstoyears.Butslowly,signsofthediseasemaydevelop,includingdramaticweightloss,impairedcoordination,stumbling,drooling,excessivethirstorurinationandaggression.Infectedanimalsmayalsodisplayalackoffearofpeopleandmaybemoreoutintheopen,makingthemmoresusceptibletohunting.Canchronicwastingdiseasespreadtohumans?AccordingtotheCDC,thereisnoevidencethatchronicwastingdiseaseoccursinhumansorthathumanscanevengetinfected.Currentstudieshavealsoshownnoevidencetosupportthepossibilityofitspreadingtohumans.However,oneexperimentshowedthatthisdiseasecanaffectmacaques,monkeysthathaveclosegeneticsimilaritiestohumans.(MORE:Judgeorderspoacherwhohelpedkillhundredsofdeertowatch'Bambi'repeatedlywhileinjail)“Thereisconcernaboutthepotentialforthediseasetotransmittohumans”saidMaddox.Ifthediseasewereabletospreadtopeople,themostlikelywaywouldbethrougheatinginfecteddeerorelk,andmanypeopleeattheseanimals.Inareaswherethediseaseiscommon,theCDCrecommendsthathuntersstronglyconsidertestingtheanimalsbeforeeatingtheirmeatand/orcheckingwithlocalwildlifeorpublichealthdepartmentsregardingtheirtestingpolicies.Ifanimaltestspositive,meatfromthatanimalshouldnotbeeaten.Again,thedisease,whiledeadlyforanimals,hasnotbeenknowntoinfecthumans.Regardless,properprecautionsshouldbetakeninareaswherethisdiseaseiscommon.AmritK.Kamboj,MD,isaninternalmedicineresidentandmemberoftheABCNewsMedicalUnit.Comments(0)SharetoFacebookSharetoTwitterEmailthisarticleTopStoriesRussia-Ukraineupdates:ZelenskyysaysRussiaopenlyannouncing'plannedatrocity'1houragoTopRepublicansaysUkraineno-flyzonecouldleadto'beginningofWorldWarIII'Mar06,12:24PMFormerUkrainianpresidentsaysPutinwon'tresorttonuclearattacksMar05,5:52PMManhattanelitebelievedshewasanheiress-what’snextforAnnaSorokin?Sep30,5:01AMManchargedin18Texasdeathssayshe's"notakiller"Mar06,4:58PMABCNewsLive24/7coverageofbreakingnewsandliveevents