this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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In a scattershot pattern that now extends from coast to coast, continental US states have been announcing new hotspots of chronic wasting disease (CWD).

The contagious and always-fatal neurodegenerative disorder infects the cervid family that includes deer, elk, moose and, in higher latitudes, reindeer. There is no vaccine or treatment.

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[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 6 points 1 hour ago

chronic wasting disease (CWD) sounds way the f worst than zombie deer. Unless the disease is transmitted through ... nope its not bites.

Prions have demonstrated an ability to remain activated in soils for many years, infecting animals that come in contact with contaminated areas where they have been shed via urination, defecation, saliva and decomposition when an animal dies.

[–] Machinist@lemmy.world 2 points 20 minutes ago

The most recent research I heard was that human transmission was highly unlikely. It was kind of a big deal and happy news. The experiment involved high prion concentrations and human cells with a long exposure.

A few years ago, there was successful primate transfer, IIRC.

This is something I watch pretty closely.

Best controls are natural predators or heavy hunting to reduce population density.

[–] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 23 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Zombie Deer Disease makes me a lot more concerned about it than Chronic Wasting Disease.

Pretty much the only people that know about CWD around here are deer hunters because of license requirements.

Zombie Deer Disease makes it a billion times scarier and easier to remember

[–] scytale@lemm.ee 95 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Prions are one of the scariest things on this planet.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 21 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

They’re downright awful. They can survive much higher temperatures than most other pathogens which means cooking often fails to destroy them.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 15 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3160281/

Several reports have shown that prions can persist in soil for several years.

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 12 points 10 hours ago

And get into the plants growing from that ground, infecting animals who eat them. Prion diseases are seriously scary, and I wish we were putting more effort into finding a cure.

[–] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 8 points 12 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 3 points 59 minutes ago

Thank you for the links. I already knew about prions, but I'd never seen the Med Twins before. A channel where an attractive young man talks about medical science in a foreign accent? You just found my catnip.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago

Yeah it's like 800+ degrees to "kill" it. As prions aren't alive, they can't really be killed, just destroyed. And they last for years in the natural environment.

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 25 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Fr. CWD is a major reason I avoid venison. It hasn't made the jump yet, but damn if I'm going to be the 1st.

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 6 points 10 hours ago

Hunters have been diagnosed with the human equivalent shortly after eating infected venison. There's no proven causal link, but it seems like quite a coincidence.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 18 points 13 hours ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease

Since 2014, however, the CFIA has allowed animals from CWD-infected farms to enter the food chain because there is "no national requirement to have animals tested for the disease". From one CWD-infected herd in Alberta, 131 elk were sold for human consumption.[19]

Hmm.

[–] theLaLiLuLeLol@kbin.earth 8 points 14 hours ago

Pretty sure they have kits you can use to send for testing for it if you hunt

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 6 points 9 hours ago

Lmao, in the article it mentions issues about global trade, food supplies and shit lol, however if this shit gets to human-spreading, that's game over.

[–] audaxdreik@pawb.social 41 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

“It trivialises what we’re facing,” says epidemiologist Michael Osterholm.

Oh, OK. So it's worse than "zombie deer disease". Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 12 points 13 hours ago

Vampire zombie deer disease?! 😱

[–] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 44 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

So .. will the current administration allocate funds to research and find solutions, or just keep firing federal employees on the front line and blame immigrants?

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 14 hours ago (1 children)
[–] TisI@reddthat.com 5 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

Serious question: what happens to education now? I mean will there be a regulating body or what happens exactly?

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

If he pulls this off, I assume they're going to pursue this bonkers idea of private or voucher schools. They want to control the narrative in classes.

An educated voter is a dangerous voter.

[–] TisI@reddthat.com 1 points 1 minute ago

Wow that's bleak.

[–] ExtraPartsLeft@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

Section. 2. (a) From the link above says that responsibilities of the DoE will be transferred to the states in a way that maintains the services Americans rely on.

I'm doubtful that they are going to do it in an organized fashion though.

[–] Albbi@lemmy.ca 11 points 12 hours ago

Scientist: "Don't call it zombie deer disease"

Scumbag Steve Reporter: puts it right in the damn headline.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 28 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

Studies show that having healthy wild carnivores on a landscape can help weed out sick CWD-carrying elk and deer, but states in the northern Rockies have adopted policies aimed at dramatically reducing wolves, bears and mountain lions.

There's a reason that carnivores and herbivores live in close proximity. Those humans who fail to recognize that will likely succumb to the first human cases of CWD.

On a side note I used to work on a couple of golf courses in northwestern Ontario. We had an infected moose show up early one fall and had to shut the course down because he just kept attacking trees all over the course. Didn't eat or drink, just fucked around with trees. Scared the shit out of us.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Poor thing’s fried brain probably thought the trees were other moose or something

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 13 points 15 hours ago

Maybe. It was shortly before the rut started so that would make sense.

[–] ech@lemm.ee 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

That's a byproduct of them living in proximity, not a reason for it.

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Except humans prevented it by removing predators. That's a reason for them to return to living in proximity. There should be predators.

[–] ech@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

A reason to return them, sure, but that's not what the comment says.

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 hours ago

Seems like that's what it was infering, given the quote above it. Like, "There's a reason they live in proximity" meaning "we shouldn't interfere with that"

[–] getoffthedrugsdude@lemmy.ml 20 points 15 hours ago

We'll get to it right after bird flu and mpox, right guys?

[–] abbadon420@lemm.ee 7 points 15 hours ago

I've been training for this for years. All those hours in L4D2 are finally gonna pay off.

[–] doug@lemmy.today 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Bellingdog@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago

Zombie Deer Disease: It's Catching On!

[–] MCasq_qsaCJ_234@lemmy.zip 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I don't know why this reminds me of World War Z.

[–] Llewellyn@lemm.ee 3 points 9 hours ago

Oh come on! That's because of "zombie" or title and you know it.