The reports that chronic wasting disease (CWD) also known as Zombie deer disease can spread to humans have caused fear among residents in US states where it has been reported in animals. Health experts say the disease turns deer into zombies and could causes animals to dramatically lose weight and walk in repetitive patterns. Citing a news report, New York Post wrote that as many as 24 states in US including New York have reported the disease in deer, elk, and moose. While there are no reports of disease affecting the humans, health experts at Minnesota urged on Thursday that CWD should be treated as a public heath issue. “It is probable that human cases of CWD associated with the consumption of contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead,” the New York Post quoted Michael Osterholm, the director for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease and Research Prevention as having told lawmakers. “It is possible that number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events,” he said. According to the newspaper, scientists believe CWD is passed on through proteins, called prions, in body fluids, like feces, saliva, blood or urine. CWD prions can remain in the environment for a long time — meaning other animals are at risk even after an infected elk or deer has died.<doc-sep>Get email updates with the day's biggest stories Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice A deadly infection which causes animals to lose coordination and become aggressive is spreading across North America, experts warn. A 'zombie deer disease’ has affected woodland mammals in recent months after being reported in 24 US states and two Canadian provinces. Also known as chronic wasting disease, the illness attacks brain and spinal cord tissue and eventually leads to death in deer, elk and moose, according to the Centre for Disease Control . The disease - which has blossomed in Colorado, Montana and other Midwest states - causes infected animals to dramatically lose weight and coordination. Scientists believe it is spread through body fluids like feces, saliva, blood or through the contamination of soil, food or water (Image: Getty Images) Its symptoms were spotted in wild animals 40 years ago, but has been seen in captive deer as far back as the late 1960s. Unlike Mad Cow Disease, it does not appear humans can get the disease by eating contaminated meat and no such cases have been reported. However, the CDC says it could pose a risk to non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals. "Since 2000, the area known to be affected by CWD in free-ranging animals has increased to at least 24 states, including states in the Midwest, Southwest, and limited areas on the East Coast," the CDC says. "It is possible that CWD may also occur in other states without strong animal surveillance systems, but that cases haven’t been detected yet. "Once CWD is established in an area, the risk can remain for a long time in the environment. The affected areas are likely to continue to expand.’ The organisation has also voiced concerns that the disease appears to be spreading across the continent. (Image: Getty Images) "In several locations where the disease is established, infection rates may exceed 10 percent (1 in 10), and localized infection rates of more than 25 percent (1 in 4) have been reported,’ the CDC report says. "The infection rates among some captive deer can be much higher, with a rate of 79% (nearly 4 in 5) reported from at least one captive herd."<doc-sep>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.” MINNESOTA WILDLIFE OFFICIALS SHOOT MULE DEER EXHIBITING ‘STRANGE BEHAVIOR’ 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). “If Stephen King could write an infectious disease novel, he would write about prions like this." — Michael Osterholm 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. AMERICAN TROPHY HUNTER PAYS $110G TO HUNT RARE MOUNTAIN GOAT IN PAKISTAN 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.<doc-sep>
A fatal neurological disease that turns deer into zombies could spread to humans, health experts are warning. The sickness, called chronic wasting disease, affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose and causes the animals to dramatically lose weight and walk in repetitive patterns. Other symptoms include loss of fear of humans, stumbling and listlessness. As of Jan. 24 states in the United States — including New York — have reported CWD in free-ranging deer, elk and moose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CWD hasn’t yet been reported in humans but experts from the University of Minnesota stressed at a hearing Thursday that the disease should be treated as a public health issue, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. “It is probable that human cases of CWD associated with the consumption of contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead,” Michael Osterholm, the director for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease and Research Prevention, told lawmakers. “It is possible that number of human cases will be substantial and will not be isolated events.” Osterholm is among experts who’ve researched mad cow disease and its transmission to humans — which was first discovered in 1996 as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. He compared CWD with the mad cow disease phenomenon, noting that for some time, experts didn’t believe it could spread to people. Minnesota is experiencing its largest CWD outbreak in deer to date in the southeast part of the state. Scientists believe CWD is passed on through proteins, called prions, in body fluids, like feces, saliva, blood or urine. CWD prions can remain in the environment for a long time — meaning other animals are at risk even after an infected elk or deer has died. CWD has been on a slow uptick in the United States after it was first identified in captive deer in 1967 in Colorado and wild deer in 1981. By the 1990s, the disease cropped up in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming and, a decade later, spread to states in the Midwest, Southwest and some parts of the East Coast, including Oneida County in New York. There is no vaccine or treatment for CWD, which is fatal to animals. Symptoms can take up to a year to develop. The CDC advises against eating meat from infected animals. Past studies have shown non-human primates, like monkeys, can be affected by CWD from eating meat or coming into contact with brain or body fluids of an infected animal.