Terrifying zombie deer disease ‘may have jumped to humans’ as US government scientists issue warning

Daily Mail

A ‘zombie deer’ disease that is fatal to every animal it infects could soon spill over into humans — if it hasn’t already, according to an alarming new report.
Experts have been warning for years that the nearly 100 percent fatal chronic wasting disease (CWD) —which leaves deer confused, drooling, and unafraid of humans — could jump from animals to people.
In the report funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, experts also warn the disease could spread to humans via infected deer that are caught by hunters.
Concerns were raised in April last year that the disease had already spread to humans and been diagnosed as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).
Research shows the proteins can be transmitted between animals via saliva, blood, urine or feces from infected animals.

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According to a disturbing new report, a “zombie deer” disease that kills every animal it infects may soon spread to humans, if it hasn’t already.

For years, experts have warned that the nearly 100% deadly chronic wasting disease (CWD), which causes deer to become confused, drool, and unafraid of people, could spread from animals to people.

Now that the disease has been discovered in wild pigs that consume contaminated meat, scientists warn that domestic pigs and eventually humans could be affected.

A leading expert on infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Michael Osterholm, issued a warning: “We now have some limited data suggesting that feral pigs might be infected.”.

What would happen to the swine and cattle markets if they were to contract the disease? These are serious problems. “Surely, if they can get infected, domestic swine could also get infected?”. “.”.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-funded report, experts caution that hunters may catch infected deer and subsequently spread the disease to humans.

The misfolded proteins that cause CWD are concentrated when food is cooked, so even though venison and pork are typically cooked before consumption, researchers say this would not prevent someone from contracting the disease.

Since there are no human vaccines or treatments for CWD, it is incurable. The disease can be contracted simply by coming into contact with an infected animal’s blood, feces, or saliva.

In an interview with local Minnesota news, Dr. Osterholm continued, “We know that people are being exposed [to CWD] through consumption [of meat] with prions.”.

“What it would take for that prion to actually infect that human with ingestion is something we don’t fully understand yet.”. “…

The purpose of Dr. Osterholm’s remarks was to increase public awareness of the illness and the possible dangers it poses to people.

The report, written by experts who worked on the project for two years, called for increased funding for efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

They also cautioned that new disease strains might appear that are more likely to infect people.

According to estimates, hunters in the United States kill about 6 million deer annually, and they also eat 1 to 5 billion pigs.

The annual number of CWD cases is unknown, but at least 33 states have reported cases, including Wyoming, Wisconsin, Colorado, and parts of Pennsylvania.

Concerns were expressed in April of last year that the illness, which was identified as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), had already infected humans.

This was later disputed by researchers, who claimed that their findings did not demonstrate that the patients had actually contracted CWD.

Although there have not yet been any human cases of CWD identified, the CDC notes that this could change in the future.

When prions, which are proteins that normally function in the brain and nervous system, misfold, they start to cause other proteins to misfold as well. This creates a cascade effect that breaks down cell-to-cell communication and results in CWD.

According to research, the proteins can be spread from one animal to another through the feces, blood, urine, or saliva of an infected animal.

Furthermore, there are those who argue that contaminated soil or drinking water can spread the infection.

Unfortunately, there is currently no cure or vaccine for CWD, which kills almost all deer.

Pig diseases are usually of concern to researchers because they claim that because pigs’ cells are similar to those of humans, there is a greater chance that they will spread a disease to humans.

In addition, Dr. Osterholm has previously expressed concern about the bird flu outbreak that is sweeping the animal kingdom, cautioning that if it infects pigs and begins to spread among them, it will also be more likely to infect humans.

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