The United States Geological Survey reports that the current outbreak of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among deer, sometimes referred to as zombie deer disease, has spread to 32 states and four Canadian provinces.
This announcement comes just months after a deer carcass found in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming tested positive for CWD in November 2023.
CWD, which was first detected in Wyoming in 1985, affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose. In one recent report, 800 samples of deer, elk and moose collected in Wyoming tested positive for the disease in 2022.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines CWD as a prion disease that may take over a year before infected animals show symptoms, including drastic weight loss, stumbling, listlessness and other neurologic issues. The affected areas are primarily in the upper Midwest and mid-Atlantic states, with Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin reporting over 40 counties affected.
According to Michael Osterholm, a scientist renowned for his research on mad cow disease, "the situation could unfold into a "slow-moving disaster." Cory Anderson, the co-director at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minnesota, backed Osterholm's claim and warned the public that thousands of people may have already unknowingly consumed meat from infected deer.
CWD, similar to mad cow, is described as "invariably fatal, incurable and highly contagious." (Related: Disease-carrying deer ticks in Pennsylvania park can spread potentially fatal neurological virus, warn experts.)
Anderson noted how a recent mad cow disease outbreak in the United Kingdom provides America with an example of how "things can get crazy" almost overnight "when a spillover event happens from, say, livestock to people."
"We're talking about the potential of something similar occurring," said Anderson. "No one is saying that it's definitely going to happen, but it's important for people to be prepared."
Osterholm and Anderson fear the virus might leap from animals to humans, reminiscent of the chaos seen during the aforementioned mad cow disease outbreak in the U.K. in the 1980s and 1990s, where 4.4 million cattle were slaughtered. The disease, fatal to cattle, affects the central nervous system, inducing aggressive symptoms and a lack of coordination. Since 1995, 178 human deaths have been linked to the human variant of mad cow disease.
However, the US National Park Service claims there is no evidence of CWD infecting humans or domestic animals. Therefore, game hunters have been advised to apply safety measures and avoid consuming tissues from infected animals.
WGFD and the CDC continue to monitor the spread of CWD in the U.S.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department's (WGFD) Wildlife Health Laboratory conducted tests on alive and dead samples from the nervous system tissues of the sick mule deer. These samples, usually from the spinal cord or peripheral systems, such as the retropharyngeal lymph nodes and tonsils, consistently showed positive results for CWD.
According to the CDC, studies have shown that CWD could be a potential risk to non-human primates, including monkeys, leading to concerns about its possible transmission to humans. These studies backed the claim of the World Health Organization since 1997 of keeping agents of known prion diseases out of the human food chain.
In response, Yellowstone National Park officials are working with the WGFD to monitor the spread of CWD within the park. The discovery has prompted a revision of the park's 2021 CWD surveillance plan, with a new protocol expected this year.
Visit Outbreak.news to learn about other disease outbreaks.
Watch this video of Dr. Bob Thiel discussing the "zombie deer disease."
This video is from the Bible New Prophecy channel on Brighteon.com.
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