Horrifying Discovery Shows Disease Creating 'Zombie Deer' May Be Close to Jumping Species
There is a risk of chronic wasting disease, also known as CWD, jumping from animals like deer over to humans, according to a new report from researchers at the University of Minnesota.
The report, published by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota earlier this month, warned that there exist preparedness and response vulnerabilities with CWD, a fatal neurodegenerative disease which impacts cervids like deer, elk, and moose.
The condition is caused by prions, which are “infectious proteins that target normal brain proteins to fold abnormally,” according to the report.
Those proteins are shed by means of body fluids, possibly exposing other deer to the disease and infecting the environment through soil and plants.
Michael Osterholm, who directs infectious disease research at the University of Minnesota, said in comments to MPR News that there may alread be spillover of CWD to other species.
“We have some limited data now suggesting that feral pigs might be infected,” he said.
“Well, if they can get infected, surely as possible domestic swine could also become infected,” the researcher continued. “What would that do to the swine market? What would that do to the cattle market? These are huge issues.”
The report indeed detailed possible widespread impacts from the transmission of CWD to new species.
“The continued spread of CWD and environmental contamination increase the risk of exposure and spillover to other wildlife, livestock, and humans,” the document noted. “Emerging prion strains with a greater propensity for cross-species transmission could heighten these concerns.”
CWD spillover could thereby “have far-reaching effects on the food supply, economy, global trade, and agriculture.”
Osterholm warned that infected venison is one way in which humans are exposed.
“We know that people are being exposed through consumption with prions,” he told MPR News.
Osterholm ominously warned: “What we don’t yet understand is what would it take for that prion to actually infect that human with ingestion?”
The report noted that handling CWD, which was first identified in 1967 in a captive mule deer in Colorado, is usually a responsibility of wildlife agencies.
There are no vaccines or treatments for the disease, so the agencies usually focus on limiting the spread.
“Thus, CWD is likely to become endemic in more areas over time as the agent is introduced to new areas where cervids are present,” the report continued.
It adds: “Because cervids are widespread on every continent except Antarctica, CWD poses a significant global threat.”
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