Rare chronic disease that turns deers into 'zombies' detected amidst hunting season

A strange disease is spreading among American deer. According to a recent census, no less than 24 of the50 American states have been overtaken by the disease. This rare disease is named chronic wasting disease.

'Deer zombies'

It is a chronic wasting disease that affects deer, reindeer and elk and seems to spread very quickly. Sometimes the infected animal shows no physical symptoms, but most of the time it is followed by stumbling, intense weight loss, apathy and heavy saliva secretion.

All these symptoms have led to the Americans labelling this disease 'deer-zombies'. Fatal for deer, it can be compared to mad cow disease or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

No vaccine or treatment

And with good reason, the origin of these diseases is similar. After carrying out analyses, scientists are able to state that they are caused by a mutated protein called a prion, which leads to the deterioration of the brain. To date, there is no treatment or vaccine to prevent its spread. In this case of the chronic debilitating disease, the risk of transmission to humans cannot yet be completely ruled out. Although, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the case has never been reported before.

While waiting to find a treatment and stop the spread of this epidemic, the United States has taken a measure to contain it. 40 American states and 7 Canadian provinces have banned the import of carcasses of animals hunted outside their territory.

Update of 06/09/22

According to KSAT, the chronic wasting disease remains a concern and has reportedly been detected in the state of Texas:

Response personnel are working to conduct epidemiological investigations, but the nature of the disease makes definitive conclusions difficult to establish.

This article was translated from Gentside FR.

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