News: Health officials in Florida have confirmed cases of Chronic Wasting Disease, commonly known as “Zombie Deer Disease.”
About Zombie Deer Disease
- It is a fatal neurological illness of cervids caused by abnormal prion proteins that damage the brain and nervous system.
- Other name: It is also known as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
- Cause: It is caused by abnormal prion proteins that damage the brain and nervous system of infected animals.
- A prion is a misfolded protein that induces misfolding in normal variants of the same protein, leading to cellular death.
- Unlike other infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, prions do not contain nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). Prions are mainly twisted isoforms of the major prion protein (PrP), a naturally occurring protein with an uncertain function.
- Symptoms: Infected animals exhibit symptoms like weight loss, stumbling, a lack of coordination, drooling, and aggression.
- Transmission: Deer, elk, and moose can contract CWD from one another directly or by interaction with prions-contaminated surroundings.
- Infection would likely occur through: food, other consumable products harvested from deer, moose, elk, caribou or reindeer (for example elk antler velvet)
- Soil and vegetation can be contaminated by urine, feces, or carcasses.
- Prions can remain infectious in the environment for years.
- Human risk: There has been no known transmission of CWD to humans.
- Treatment: No treatment or vaccine exists; researchers are working on better detection, vaccines, and environmental controls.
- Diagnosis: CWD can be confirmed only by testing specific tissues from an animal after it has died.
- Detecting the disease is unreliable in animals that are younger than 12 months.
- There is no test that can certify food or other animal products as completely free of CWD prions.
- Prevention:
- Wear gloves when handling ill or dead animals; avoid meat from animals confirmed with CWD.
- Use strong on-farm biosecurity to prevent introduction and spread.
- Apply surveillance, testing, movement restrictions, and do not allow positive animals into the food chain.
- Follow herd certification programs focused on prevention and risk management.
