'Zombie Deer' Disease Now In PA: Here's Why You Should Care

“Zombie deer disease,” a deadly infection that causes deer to dramatically lose weight and coordination and turn aggressive, is spreading across North America, a government report warns.

The disease, officially known chronic wasting disease, affects deer, elk and moose. As of January 2019, it has been reported in Pennsylvania and 23 other U.S. states, as well as two provinces in Canada.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issued the warning, said there’s no evidence people will be harmed if they eat meat from infected wildlife.

So why should we care?

Although the CDC has stopped short of warning people not eat venison from infected animals, there’s some evidence it might not be a good idea. A separate study from the agency found that laboratory mice with some human genes could become infected with chronic wasting disease.

For now, the CDC recommends that hunters in the areas where chronic wasting disease has been found have their game tested. The agency also advised hunters against shooting or handling meat from deer or elk that look or act strangely, but added that the animal’s behavior isn’t a fail-safe way of knowing if it is infected, because it can take years for the symptoms to appear.

In Pennsylvania, the disease has been reported in five counties: Blair; Bedford; Cambria; Clearfield; and Fulton.

The disease got its nickname — “zombie deer disease” — because of the horrifying effects on the animals that contract it. The sick animals sometimes take on the vacant stare associated with “zombies” and they become so gaunt their rib cages are visible.

Chronic wasting disease was first detected in captive deer and other members of the hoofed Cervidae family in the late 1960s in Colorado and wild deer in 1981, and gradually has spread to the Midwest, Southwest and, to a more limited degree, to the East Coast.

It’s possible, however, that chronic wasting disease may be in other states that don’t have strong animal surveillance systems, but haven’t been detected yet, the CDC said.

In another study, macaques, a type of monkey that is genetically closer to people than the other animals infected with the disease, became sick after eating meat from infected deer and elk. Of the five monkeys fed infected meat from white-tailed deer, three tested positive for chronic wasting disease, according to The Tyee, a Canadian news outlet. The Associated Press said that was the first time the disease has been found to spread in primates through the consumption of infected meat.

Chronic wasting disease is steadily spreading. The CDC said that in several areas where the disease is established, infection rates may exceed 10 percent, but localized rates of infection may be as high as 25 percent.

Infection rates appear to be higher in captive deer. In one captive herd, the infection rate was nearly four in five, or 79 percent, according to the report.

Once the disease is established, it’s almost impossible to eradicate.

“The risk can remain for a long time in the environment,” the CDC said. “The affected areas are likely to continue to expand.”

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