Concerns are growing among scientists that two American hunters may have contracted ‘zombie deer disease’ after consuming infected deer meat. The disease, scientifically known as chronic wasting disease (CWD), is a fatal prion condition that primarily affects deer, elk, and moose, causing severe neurological symptoms. These include drastic weight loss, drooling, stumbling, and a distinctive vacant stare in the infected animals, earning it the nickname ‘zombie deer disease.’
The hunters, who both died shortly after eating the contaminated meat, exhibited neurological symptoms akin to those seen in affected wildlife, suggesting the potential for CWD to jump from deer to humans. This situation mirrors the transmission of mad cow disease to humans in the 1990s, raising alarms about a similar risk with CWD. Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, investigating the deaths in 2022, pointed to evidence that may indicate a transfer of the disease from animals to humans.
One of the deceased, a 72-year-old man, showed symptoms including rapid-onset confusion, aggression, and seizures, dying within a month despite receiving treatment. Posthumously, he was diagnosed with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), another prion disease related to mad cow disease but occurring in humans. The findings suggest a possible novel pathway for animal-to-human transmission of CWD, prompting further study.
CWD is known for its lethality and incurability, affecting a broad range of animals across various regions including 32 US states, Canada, South Korea, and several European countries. Symptoms in animals can take over a year to develop, and there is currently no effective treatment or vaccine available. Like CWD, CJD involves the abnormal folding of prion proteins in the brain, leading to severe neurological damage and death.
Despite the grave implications, confirming CWD transmission to humans remains challenging due to the similarity between CWD and other prion diseases. Nevertheless, the researchers emphasized the need for ongoing investigation into the risks associated with consuming meat from CWD-infected deer and its potential public health implications. Alarming findings from Yellowstone National Park, where a significant number of deer tested positive for CWD, and other studies suggest that while the transmission barrier to humans might be high, it is not insurmountable, urging caution and further research into the disease and its impact on both wildlife and human populations.
