Deadly ?zombie? deer disease could possibly spread to humans, experts warn

[Shooter45]

While I think with the widespread of CWD, that people have eaten an infected animal unknowingly before, we shall see the future of this.


Deadly ?zombie? deer disease could possibly spread to humans, experts warn

A deadly disease that has affected the deer population in an estimated 24 states and two Canadian provinces could eventually spread to and infect humans, experts warn.
Speaking at the Minnesota State Capitol last week, experts from the University of Minnesota told lawmakers of the dangers of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), or what the U.S. Geological Survey describes as a ? fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose.?

Currently, there are no vaccines or treatments available for the disease, which scientists say spreads directly through animal-to-animal contact but also indirectly through contaminated drinking water or food.
While there have been no reported cases of CWD in people, Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told lawmakers that the disease should be treated as a public health issue, claiming human cases of CWD will likely be ?documented in the years ahead.?
?It is probable that human cases of CWD associated with the consumption of contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead. It is possible that number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events,? he said, in part, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
?If Stephen King could write an infectious disease novel, he would write about prions like this,? he added.
Osterholm likened CWD to mad cow disease, which public health officials and those in the beef industry once did not think could infect people (it has since been confirmed that a cureless variant of mad cow ? Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) ? can adversely impact humans). CWD and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease belong to the same family of diseases known as prion diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CWD was first detected in a captive deer in the late 1960s, the CDC said. Symptoms of the disease include drooling, stumbling, lack of coordination, lack of fear of people, aggression, and listlessness ? which explains the ?zombie? deer disease nickname. The symptoms are a result of a ?malformed prion that kills neurons in the infected animal?s brain,? the University of Minnesota explains.

Osterholm echoed the CDC when warning the disease could potentially spread to humans in the future.
?Animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to some types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people. Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain,? the CDC states.

https://www.foxnews.com/health/deadl...s-experts-warn

[Irving]

CWD has been around for a long time and there has yet to be a single case of transference to humans.

[DFBrews]

This article made the rounds on fb and Instagram today and both sides of my friends both the hardcore hippy and the die hard hunting friends all shared it.

What form of media did you come across it on? What platforms have you shared it on?


Are you zombie sharing or did the cdc pay for the article to go to the front page


I have been sending my heads in for testing in unit 19 for over 15 years
CWD first noticed in the 60s in captive and wild in the 80?s

[Irving]

First noticed in Colorado as well, I believe.

[Jamnanc]

Rumor has it, caused by an elk ranch at highway 14 and 287.

[whitewalrus]

I have been sending my heads in for testing in unit 19 for over 15 years

Any of them come back positive?

[DFBrews]

Any of them come back positive?

Nope 6 elk 4 bulls and 2 cows and 5 mulies all tested fine. The hunting has changed since the fire came through though technique is all different

[Delfuego]

CWD has been around for a long time and there has yet to be a single case of transference to humans.

Or has it....

[Irving]

Prime wild game eaters if I've ever seen them.

[BushMasterBoy]

CWD can turn into CJD. It is called a zoonosis when the animal gives a human a disease. In 1996 I saw hundreds of dead deer carcasses from this disease. It was horrible to see such devastation. Stuff like this won't make the news, it scares off the tourists. This was in the northwest corner of Colorado. Sorry I don't have any photographs of this horrible occurrence.