— If you’re a deer hunter, odds are you’ve heard of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a sickness which spawns so-called “zombie deer.” CWD — a neurological disease carried by deer, elk and moose — is fatal for the infected animals. It’s caused by infectious proteins called prions that multiply and cause the animal’s brain to slowly decompose.
“Scientists think CWD spreads between animals through contact with saliva, blood, urine or feces of an animal with CWD. They suspect it can also spread indirectly through the environment, such as in soil, drinking water or food,” according to information from the Centers for Disease Control. Related to bovine spongiform-encephalopathy (mad cow disease) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CWD was originally discovered in Colorado in the 1960s.
Unlike mad cow disease, which killed over 100 people in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, CWD hasn’t been found to affect humans. However, it remains unknown if a species jump could occur, as evolved strains of the disease might interact with humans differently. Virginia’s first case of CWD was found in Frederick County in 2009.
Since then, its local spread hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Last year, out of 72 positive cases of CWD found in Virginia, 41 were from Frederick County. In 2022, 24 of 47 positive cases came from Frederick County.
While these numbers may not sound very high, only a small fraction of the deer population is tested. “We’re not really trying to ob.
