New Yorkers urged not to eat venison as brain wasting disease is found in deer for first time in 20 years

New Yorkers are being urged to steer clear of venison this hunting season after ‘zombie deer disease’ was detected in an animal in the western part of the state.

Officials confirmed the case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in an unidentified facility in a northern county bordering Canada. 

It marks the first confirmed CWD case in the state in nearly 20 years.

Nicknamed ‘zombie deer disease,’ the condition causes parts of the brain to slowly deteriorate into a spongy consistency, leaving infected animals to drool and stare blankly before they die. 

The condition is 100 percent fatal and spreads between animals like deer and elk. 

It was detected in an unspecified animal as part of routine testing from New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets, but officials do not believe the disease is present in the wild deer population. 

The Department of Environmental Conservation added in a statement that ‘the threat to public health is low.’

However, the department still issued a warning that people should not consume meat from animals suspected of having the disease. 

The statement said while ‘there is no evidence that CWD can infect humans, people should not consume meat from infected animals.’ 

This is New York’s first reported case of CWD since 2005, with a majority of America’s cases reported in Midwestern states like Kansas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

The state said it is implementing its Interagency CWD Response Plan. It will increase sampling and monitoring of wild deer and is encouraging residents to report any sick or dead deer in the area.  

CWD is caused by proteins in the body that do not fold into the correct shape called prions. 

After infection, prions travel throughout the central nervous system, leaving prion deposits in brain tissues and organs. 

There are no treatments or vaccines. 

The disease is also highly contagious, so if one animal tests positive, the entire herd is considered infected.

It’s unclear exactly how CWD spreads, but it is thought that animals transmit it by eating food or water contaminated by infected feces or exposure to carcasses.

Direct contact, including saliva, blood, urine and even antler velvet during annual shedding may also contribute to the transmission.

CWD has never been shown to spread to humans, though some experts fear that it’s possible. 

Earlier this year, a medical journal detailed the cases of two hunters who died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a similar brain wasting disease with a 100 percent death rate. 

Like CWD, CJD is caused by misfolded prions and usually affects patients at random. However, the researchers noted that it’s possible the hunters were sickened after eating infected deet meat.

They wrote: ‘Although causation remains unproven, this cluster emphasizes the need for further investigation into the potential risks of consuming CWD-infected deer and its implications for public health.’

Research suggests it is possible that prions in CWD attach to elements of the environment may cause prion properties to be modified, including how infectious the disease is and the potential to infect other animal species or even humans. 

CWD has been detected in animals in at least 35 states, four Canadian provinces and four other foreign countries, according to the CDC.

Symptoms to watch out for in animals include drastic weight loss, stumbling, drooling, listlessness, excessive thirst, drooping ears, or a lack of fear of humans. 

To reduce the risk of CWD, New York state officials recommended deboning any deer carcasses that were hunted outside of New York before bringing them back to the state.

Additionally, carcasses should be discarded in a landfill rather than out in the open.