The deer population in Canada has been infected with a peculiar and extremely infectious Chronic Wasting Illness (CWD), dubbed ‘Zombie disease’ due to its characteristics.
According to health authorities, the illness has spread to at least two Canadian provinces: Alberta and Saskatchewan. Although CWD was initially recorded in the United States in 1960, the first incidence of the disease was found at a Saskatchewan elk farm in 1996 and spread to wild deer.
Margo Pybus, a wildlife disease specialist with the Alberta government said, ‘There’s an epidemic of CWD in Alberta and Saskatchewan—and it’s already underway. This epidemic is raging through deer in the prairies and parklands’.
CWD is a prion disease that affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose, as per the US Center for Disease Control (CDC). Animals die from it and there are no therapies or immunizations available. Excess salivation, a lack of coordination, odd behaviour, excessive urine and weight loss are all symptoms.
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Health experts have also cautioned that the Zombie sickness might be transmitted to people through the consumption of contaminated deer or elk meat, putting hunters at risk. The illness may be spread through poor corpse handling, which can result in blood or brain matter entering the body or by simply eating the meat, because the prion protein that causes CWD does not break down and remains infectious even when cooked.
However, the CDC has said that there is currently no significant evidence of the illness in people. It has, however, urged people to be cautious and reduce their risk of catching the disease by not shooting, handling or consuming meat from ill deer.
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