TOPEKA (KSNT) - State and federal health officials are monitoring the spread of a "zombie deer disease" as hunters across Kansas look to hit their bag limit.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), also popularly known as zombie deer disease, is a recurring issue for the state's hunters. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) encourage people to avoid eating meat taken from animals exhibiting the signs and symptoms of this disease even though there have been no confirmed cases of CWD in humans.
CWD is part of a family of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), also known as prion diseases, that lead to degenerative brain disorders, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The CDC said on its website that CWD, while it hasn't been detected in people yet, poses the greatest risk to hunters who regularly kill and harvest wild deer in the event the disease makes the jump to humans.
27 News reached out to Wildlife Disease Program Coordinator Shane Hesting about the possible dangers associated with CWD and asked if hunters should be worried about contracting it. He said the KDWP generally does not encourage people to eat wildlife that appear sick but that, at the end of the day, it is the hunter's decision whether or not to eat meat from a deer.
"No person on Earth has been diagnosed with CWD to date," Hesting said. "That's the good news. However, due to long incubation times and unknowns about CWD and TSEs in general, KDWP, CDC, and most other natural resource agencies do not recommend eating deer or elk that have tested positive for CWD."
Hesting, who spoke with 27 News in August about the spread of CWD in Kansas, said Lincoln and Riley Counties were added to the list of counties being monitored by the KDWP. Both had a single case of positive CWD from the previous hunting season.
"Most professionals agree it will reduce the number of older deer on the landscape over time, i.e., fewer trophy animals," Hesting said. "This will manifest over a period of decades. Wyoming is reporting deer population declines in areas with the highest prevalence, and Wyoming has had CWD for 30+ years longer than Kansas."
The KDWP has started to release its testing results for chronic wasting disease CWD as the 2024-2025 deer season gets underway. Hunters can use the website to check if their deer have tested positive or negative for CWD.
Hesting said the KDWP's website displays deer killed by hunters along with those that are roadkill and which are suspected to be infected. Out of the 90 tests conducted so far, 23 are positive for CWD while the rest have tested negative.
"My wish is for everyone to have a safe and enjoyable hunting season this year," Hesting said. "Regulated hunting is the only way we can keep deer and other populations of game animals at biologically and socially acceptable densities and help keep diseases in check. If you know someone (young or older) who may have an interest in hunting, take them hunting. Teach them about safety and ethics. Show them how much enjoyment, peace, and wildlife viewing hunting brings and how one can put naturally sourced food on the table. Remember: It's never too late to learn how to hunt and experience what the Kansas landscape has to offer.
You can learn more about hunting applications and fees on the KDWP's website by clicking here. For more information on CWD monitoring efforts being conducted in Kansas, click here.
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