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Two men in Wyoming might be the first Americans to have succumbed to a condition known as 'zombie deer' disease after consuming infected venison, according to a recent study.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), which is almost always fatal, leaves deer disoriented, drooling, and unafraid of humans, and there has been concern for years about its potential to cross into humans. For years, experts have suggested that the disease might be able to jump from deer to humans—but the aforementioned study, published on Thursday in the journal Neurology, claims that it may have already made the inter-species jump almost two years ago.

The new study posits that this has indeed occurred with two hunters who passed away in 2022 after eating contaminated venison.

One of the victims, a 72-year-old man, experienced 'rapid-onset confusion and aggression' as well as seizures, leading to his death within a month. Posthumously, he was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a brain-wasting condition similar to Mad Cow Disease.

“In 2022, a 72-year-old man with a history of consuming meat from a CWD-infected deer population presented with rapid-onset confusion and aggression,” the study detailed, describing the background and results of its investigation. “His friend, who had also eaten venison from the same deer population, recently died of CJD, raising concerns about a potential link between CWD and human prion disease. Despite aggressive symptomatic treatment of seizures and agitation, the patient’s condition deteriorated and he died within a month of initial presentation.”

“The diagnosis was confirmed postmortem as sporadic CJD with homozygous methionine at codon 129 (sCJDMM1). The patient’s history, including a similar case in his social group, suggests a possible novel animal-to-human transmission of CWD,” the study added. “Based on non-human primate and mouse models, cross-species transmission of CJD is plausible. Due to the challenge of distinguishing sCJDMM1 from CWD without detailed prion protein characterization, it is not possible to definitively rule out CWD in these cases. 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.”

“Clusters of sporadic CJD cases may occur in regions with CWD-confirmed deer populations, hinting at potential cross-species prion transmission. Surveillance and further research are essential to better understand this possible association,” the study concluded.

CWD is known to be highly contagious; if one deer in a herd is confirmed to have died from it, the entire herd is considered infected. Despite the widespread occurrence of the disease among deer across at least 32 states in the U.S. and parts of Canada, no confirmed cases in humans have previously been recorded.

Researchers, hailing from Texas but without specific details on where the deaths occurred, suggest the transmission to these hunters might be linked to their consumption of meat from an infected herd. “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,” the team noted in their publication in the journal Neurology.

CJD and CWD share a common cause: misfolded proteins known as prions, which travel throughout the central nervous system and leave deposits in brain tissues and organs. The exact method of CWD transmission is not fully understood, but it likely spreads from animal to animal through contaminated food or water, exposure to infected carcasses, and direct contact through bodily fluids.

As the disease continues to affect animal populations, the potential for it to affect humans remains a critical area of research, particularly in regions where deer meat is commonly consumed.