First Case of ‘Zombie Deer’ Disease Confirmed in Yellowstone National Park

First Confirmed in Yellowstone National Park in the United States
Prediction: “Humans Infected Within the Next 10 Years”

For the first time, a case of the so-called “zombie deer” disease has been confirmed in a U.S. national park, prompting authorities to be on high alert.

As reported by major foreign media on the 14th local time, a deer infected with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was identified for the first time in Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first and America’s representative national park, spanning the northwest of Wyoming, the southern part of Montana, and the eastern part of Idaho.

CWD, also known as “zombie deer disease,” affects deer and elk, causing damage to the central nervous system. As the brain is destroyed, it becomes holey like a sponge, similar to the symptoms of cows with mad cow disease. Infected animals may drool or stagger; compared to healthy deer, they become less fearful of humans and lose their expressions.

In South Korea, CWD was referred to as “mad deer disease,” but the use of this derogatory term has been discouraged.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, CWD has spread to 23 states in the U.S., two provinces in Canada, and other regions, including South Korea, over the past few years. The U.S. National Park Service stated in an official statement that “currently, there is no evidence that CWD can infect humans or other livestock species,” but they “recommend not consuming the tissues or meat of infected animals.”

The Korean Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency also maintains that, unlike mad cow disease, CWD is not a zoonotic disease. However, there is currently no vaccine or treatment for CWD, so that infection can have fatal consequences. Hence, caution is needed.

Are there cases in Korea, and can humans be infected?

Michael Osterholm, a professor at the University of Minnesota, warned in a paper presented at the American Society for Microbiology in 2019 that “there could be a latency period of several years before symptoms caused by the misfolded protein prions appear if you consume meat from a deer infected with CWD,” and “cases of humans infected with CWD will emerge within the next 10 years.”

Once infected with prions, unlike bacteria or viruses, they are not destroyed in nature for several years and can be transmitted through saliva or excrement. As a result, massive campaigns are underway in Canada and the U.S. to strongly recommend not hunting infected deer or consuming their meat only after specific tests have been conducted.

There have been cases of CWD in South Korea as well. The disease was first reported in the country in 2001, and while there were no reported cases after 19 deer were affected in 2010, it was known to have re-emerged in 2016. In 2022, CWD was found on farms in areas such as Uiryeong and Jinju, and all the deer were culled. Since 2018, cases of CWD have been reported every year.

By. Ko Ki Jeong