Zombie Deer Disease Could Evolve and Infect Humans, Researchers Warn

Zombie deer disease could hit humans! Researchers are now worried about a possible human transmission after observing that the culprit could multiply in human cells.

Zombie Deer Disease Could Infect Humans

A new study observed prions, which are reportedly behind the fatal zombie deer disease or chronic wasting disease. The researchers noticed that prions could infect and multiply in human cells in lab conditions, which raises the chances of a spillover.

Chronic wasting illness is a contagious neurological disorder. It kills almost all animals it infects and is quickly decimating deer herds in the United States.

Misfolded proteins, or prions, are the source of the disease when proteins fail to fold into the proper shape. Following infection, prions move throughout the central nervous system, depositing themselves in the tissues and organs of the brain.

It is believed that humans can get the disease by coming into contact with polluted water or soil or by eating diseased deer. According to research, prions may change in qualities when they attach to environmental components, such as their level of infectiousness and capacity to spread to humans or other animal species.

An infected animal may not exhibit symptoms for up to a year. However, they may include severe weight loss, tripping, and listlessness.

The condition causes sections of the brain to gradually deteriorate into a spongy substance and causes the animals to drool and stare blankly before they die. It has affected deers that's why it is also called "zombie deer disease." There are no vaccines and antidotes for it at the moment.

Although the precise mode of transmission is unknown, it is believed that animals can contract the disease by eating contaminated forage, drinking polluted water, or coming into contact with carcasses.

Saliva, blood, urine, and even the velvet of antlers during yearly shedding can all be direct points of contact where the infection might spread.

Every dead deer on a farm has to be examined for the presence of chronic wasting illness. A single positive test results in the infection of the entire herd because the disease is so infectious.

It is believed that the illness exclusively affects deer, elk, reindeer, caribou, and moose.

ALSO READ: Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in Montgomery County Deer: First-Ever Case Reported

What Is Spillover?

Spillover theory refers to animal viruses that infect humans. At first, scientists believed spillovers to be uncommon occurrences. However, an increasing number of research indicates otherwise -- they occur often. For example, COVID-19 started off in an animal and "spilled over" into humans.

Animal viruses typically don't leave their host. The transmission of a virus has been likened by scientists to winning the lottery -- it only has to be at the right place at the right moment and have unique, uncommon qualities in order to infect humans. The simultaneous occurrence of all three phenomena is quite uncommon. That's what they believed.

This notion has affected how researchers look for novel infections or try to identify the ones that may start pandemics in the future. It specifically prompted scientists to focus their attention on finding novel viruses in wild animals.

Since 2009, the federal government of the United States of America has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the catching of wild animals like bats and rats, cataloging all the viruses that are present in their bodies, and then trying to determine which of these viruses is most likely to create an expensive human outbreak or pandemic.

Regretfully, this endeavor was unable to identify SARS-CoV-2 before the infection spread around the world.

RELATED ARTICLE: Mysterious Disease Transforming Deer, Other Animals Into 'Zombies'

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