Health
Does “zombie deer disease” pose a risk to humans?
Jennifer ChesakFunctional support person
gettySome look to mad cow disease and research for answers about whether animals can spread the disease to humans.
“Zombie deer disease” is spreading among wild animals. But scientists have not reached a consensus on whether the condition can spread to humans.
chronic wasting disease It is a type of prion disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a neurodegenerative disease that affects wild animals, including deer. No human cases have yet been reported, but most cases have been reported. Recently confirmed in deersimilar to Canadian elk, before after Case reported in Yellowstone National Park In the US.
However, as the sending increases, North America, Scandinavia, Korea, some experts have expressed concern that human infection may be imminent. They base their concerns on research, the history of other prion diseases being transmitted from animals to humans (which is extremely rare), and the potential effects of climate change.
“So far, there has been no transmission from deer or elk to humans,” he said. Jennifer Mullinax, associate professor of wildlife ecology and management at the University of Maryland. “However, given the nature of prions, the CDC and other agencies have supported every effort to eliminate prion diseases from the food chain.”
What is zombie deer disease and what are its symptoms?
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is transmitted in cervids, which are ungulate ruminants such as deer, reindeer, elk, and moose. Although CWD is an infectious disease, Not caused by bacteria or virusesAccording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Rather, the problem is caused by a misfolded prion protein, but researchers still don't know what causes the protein to become abnormal. Normal prion proteins may play a role in cell signaling. But misfolding leads to even more protein misfolding.
Misfolded prion proteins in the brain destroy brain cells, causing bodily dysfunction and abnormal symptoms. Symptoms include weight loss, excessive drinking and urination, decreased balance and coordination, drooping ears, and difficulty swallowing. Difficulty swallowing can lead to drooling, which can eventually lead to pneumonia and death. The classic symptoms and image of an uncoordinated, stumbling, drooling animal gave rise to the term “zombie deer disease.” Symptoms may take months or years to appear, making visual diagnosis difficult.
When the prion protein is misfolded, it becomes more infectious and spreads among wild animals. CWD is spread from animal to animal through direct contact with body fluids and waste, and indirect contact with contaminated soil, water, and food.
Can zombie deer diseases be transmitted to humans?
The CDC estimates that in areas where prion diseases are endemic, the infection rate ranges from: 10%～25%. In 2023, monitoring results from Alberta, Canada: Positive rate 23% For mule deer.
current evidence does not show that CWD can also be transmitted to humans If you eat meat from an infected animal, encounter infected wild animals, or drink or touch contaminated soil or water. But researchers are still investigating whether it can be transmitted from animals to humans. “There's a lot of research going on right now, and it means we don't know anything yet,” Mullinax said.
An older CDC study published in 2011 used the 2006-2007 Foodborne Disease Active Surveillance Network Population Survey. Assess exposure risk. This study includes results from over 17,000 participants. More than 65% of all respondents reported eating wild game at least sometimes. The researchers were only looking at the prevalence of potential exposure, but reported that they had found no evidence of human transmission to date.
However, prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, also exist in humans.These include: Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseasethis is a genetic condition, Mutant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. the latter, Researchers are currently confirmingis caused by the same infectious agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as .crazy cow” disease.
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) was first discovered in the United Kingdom in 1996. However, mad cow disease in cattle was discovered about 10 years ago. Approximately 230 cases of vCJD have been reported in 12 countries around the world.
“The vCJD situation caused by zoonotic transmission of BSE prions by eating infected beef is perhaps the best example of what the potential crisis of CWD transmission to humans is. '' he says. michael osterholmDirector of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
“However, it is important to note that BSE and CWD prions are structurally different, and it remains to be seen whether the pathology and clinical symptoms will be equivalent if CWD infection occurs in humans.” he added.
In 2004, CDC researchers looked at: Case From 1979 to 2000, research into the human prion disease CJD was conducted in Wyoming and Colorado. The latter state is where CWD was first discovered in 1967. Researchers were partially investigating whether non-hereditary cases exist and whether they are related to zombie deer disease. In Colorado he had 67 reported cases of CJD and in Wyoming he had 7 reported cases of CJD. The incidence of CJD in these states was found to be similar to other regions of the United States. And researchers report that at the time, only two nonfamilial CJD cases had been reported in people who ate venison in endemic areas.
CJD is generally a genetic disease, but it has previously been transmitted through medical procedures. However, according to the CDC, no cases of this type of infection have been reported since the mid-1970s, when better sterilization procedures were implemented.
Although older studies did not reveal conclusive evidence of animal-to-human transmission of CWD, they do not rule out the possibility. New research raises concerns.
What studies of chronic wasting disease show
“Laboratory-based and animal-based tests have yielded mixed results depending on the species and method used to attempt infection,” Mullinax said. “What we know so far is that each species has its own level of resistance or barrier to infection by CWD prions, with species close to humans being completely resistant.”
in 2018 study In a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health, researchers exposed 14 macaque monkeys. share approximately 93% of their genome In humans, it's even the brain matter of deer and elk infected with CWD. They monitored macaque monkeys for more than a decade and screened their tissues through a variety of tests. They found no evidence of infection from infected neck tissue to the macaque monkeys. However, other studies (some unpublished), suggest Possibility of transmission from cervids to macaques.
in research From the University of Calgary in 2022, researchers collected CWD isolates from infected deer and injected them into “humanized” mice. humanized mouse Genetically modified for the purpose of investigating or modeling human disease. Over two and a half years, the mice developed CWD and shed infectious prion protein in their feces. Researchers noted that the mice showed signs of atypical prions, suggesting that if CWD is transmitted to humans, atypical symptoms may appear, making diagnosis difficult. . Researchers have also expressed concern about the mice's fecal excretion. If animal-to-human transmission is found to be possible, infected people could infect others.
“These studies also have inherent limitations that further complicate interpretation of the results,” Osterholm says. “When evaluating the latest scientific publications on this topic, there is not enough evidence to confidently conclude 'yes' or 'no' to the question of whether CWD is breaking the species barrier. ”
What is being done to monitor chronic wasting disease?
CIDRAP is emergency response plan What if CWD turns out to be transmissible to humans? The team actively monitors risks. Researchers from the Wildlife Futures Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine intestinal flora To increase surveillance and learn more about the disease, we surveyed both uninfected and CWD-infected deer.
“Many academic researchers and USDA researchers are studying the possibility of live experiments with CWD,” Mullinax said, “which would involve humans ingesting infected deer. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to understand how CWD prions mutate and which animals, including ourselves, may be affected. You will be able to better understand what is there. ”
Experts have expressed concern that CWD may change over time. “Progressing infections in cervids may also facilitate the emergence of new CWD prion strains, which have the ability to infect a different range of hosts,” Osterholm said. There may be,” he said.
Similarly, climate change may also have an impact. “Research on the effects of climate change on deer suggests that deer populations will increase in response,” Mullinax says.
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