Photo:Getty
Getty
A rare condition, coined as the “zombie” disease, has reached deer in Yellowstone National Park for the first time, according to officials.
In apress releasefrom earlier this week, Yellowstone National Park and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced that they found the first recorded instance of “chronic wasting disease,” also known as “zombie” disease. The case was found in an adult mule deer buck that was previously part of a study in Wyoming.
Going forward, officials say Yellowstone staff must take precautions to prevent the spread of the disease now that it has reached the area. These measures include increased testing in deer, elk and moose, as well as heightened surveillance of the park.
The first known case of CWD was in the 1980s in Wyoming, and although it has spread throughout the state, it hadn’t been known to exist in Yellowstone until now.
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It can be spread both directly and indirectly through particles of the disease, and long-term effects are still unknown, officials say.
There is also currently “no evidence” that CWD can spread to humans or only among wild animals, but theCDC urges people to be cautious.
“Since 1997, the World Health Organization has recommended that it is important to keep the agents of all known prion diseases from entering the human food chain,” the CDC says.
source: people.com
