Deadly ZOMBIE deer disease spreads across US – World Health Organisation issue precaution
CHRONIC wasting disease, a deadly infection affecting deer in recent months, has been spreading across North America and humans have been warned not to consume any of the infected animals.
By KATIE WESTON
Express.co.uk
Fri, Feb 8, 2019
A ‘zombie deer disease’ has been spreading across North America, with affected areas are expected to “continue to expand”. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a precaution to humans not to eat any animal infected with the infection, known as chronic wasting disease (CWD). The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said: “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. 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.
“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.”
In a video released by the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), Dr Andy Schwartz, Executive Director of TAHC, explained: “Chronic wasting disease is a progressive neurological disease that is known to affect deer.
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