Zombie disease is spreading among deer in the USA

By the beginning of 2019, the "zombie virus" affecting deer had already killed hundreds of animals in the United States, Norway, Finland and South Korea. Scientists fear that the disease will spread to humans.

In the United States, in at least 24 states, as well as in two provinces of Canada, wild deer and elk suffer from chronic debilitating disease (CWD) — a neurological disease that is also referred to as "zombie disease". CWD was first identified in the late 1960s in Colorado, and its distribution has been recorded since 2000.

This infectious disease causes lesions of the spinal cord and brain, animals affected by it suffer from a sharp weight loss, uncontrolled salivation, lack of coordination, aggression, excessive thirst and fear of others. Carriers have a peculiar behavior that somewhat resembles the behavior of zombies from the apocalypse movies. The CDC claims that this disease belongs to the family of "rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurodegenerative disorders."

It has been previously established that it is transmitted through biological fluids, the incubation period is about a year, and in some animals — for many years. However, it is always fatal.

Most scientists consider the "zombie virus" to be not a bacterial, but a prion disease (a group of neurodegenerative diseases caused by improperly folded proteins accumulating in the brain). Once one prion is formed, these proteins "transform" the normal ones into their abnormal form, triggering a chain reaction that leads to the accumulation of prions in the brain.

Prion diseases also include mad cow disease, which is contagious to primates — macaques who ate infected meat fell ill.

Currently, the "zombie disease" affects only deer and moose. But researchers from the University of Minnesota have warned local lawmakers that measures need to be taken to prevent the potential spread of the disease among people. Doctors warn hunters not to come into contact with animals and not to eat potentially infected meat.