The province of British Columbia in Canada has unveiled a plan to address the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), which is currently spreading throughout North America.
This week, authorities in the furthest western province mandated that any deer, moose, elk, or caribou found dead on the road be tested, following two confirmed cases at the end of January. The cases, which were found in a mule deer and a white-tailed deer in the Kootenay district, prompted the province to implement restrictions on the transportation and disposal of deer in the region.
The deadly illness is caused by misshapen proteins called prions and impacts animals in the cervid family. It attacks the brain and nervous system of the infected animal, causing symptoms such as drooling, stumbling, and lethargy, often resulting in a vacant expression, earning it the nickname “zombie deer disease”. The government has requested that citizens promptly report any sick cervids they encounter.
Chronic wasting disease has been detected in captive deer populations in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Quebec, as well as in wild deer in Manitoba, in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has also reported its presence in three wild moose.
However, a recently confirmed case in Yellowstone National Park has raised new concerns about the potential danger of the disease, marking the first instance at the renowned nature reserve.
There is no clear consensus among experts about the possibility of CWD being transmitted to humans, similar to how mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was able to do almost 40 years ago.
The province stated in its bulletin that there is currently no proof that the disease can be passed from animals to humans and there have been no recorded instances of the disease affecting humans.
However, according to Hermann Schätzl, the research associate dean at the veterinary school of the University of Calgary, previous studies on macaques indicate that transmission of CWD between primates is feasible. In order to simulate the prolonged consumption of CWD-infected venison in humans, the researchers fed the primates brain tissue that was infected with the disease.
According to the Guardian, our experimental models suggest a high possibility of CWD being able to infect humans. However, there is no conclusive evidence of this occurring in the past through the consumption of venison.
“Is it expected to occur in the future? Most likely, yes.”
According to Schätzl, the quick dissemination of the virus in North America and Scandinavia, as well as the possibility of it mutating further, should be a cause for concern.
“Is it possible for chronic wasting disease to spread from one human to another? This is the worst-case scenario, similar to avian influenza or the transmission of Covid to humans.”
According to him, the study on intentionally infected macaques with CWD revealed a higher presence of the virus in the spinal cord compared to the central nervous system. He pointed out that this area is often overlooked and raises the question of whether we would have found it if we had looked in the usual places. He believes it would have presented as an atypical disease.
According to Schätzl, the extended time it takes for prion diseases to manifest in humans means that if someone were to contract the disease at present, it would likely go unnoticed for a considerable amount of time before symptoms appear. This is a concerning issue.
Source: theguardian.com
