--- title: Health Officials Are Worried That ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Someday Spread to Humans description: Chronic wasting disease (CWD), or zombie deer disease, is becoming more common in U.S. deer. Experts worry it could spread to humans. canonical: https://time.com/5532416/what-is-zombie-deer-disease/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-19T16:57:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:48:17.025Z article:section: Health og:title: Health Officials Are Worried That ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Someday Spread to Humans og:description: Its official name is chronic wasting disease og:url: https://time.com/5532416/what-is-zombie-deer-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de60b9a9b4e34ce/6989455aab6d770b7d6b4d5b/zombie-deer-disease.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Portrait Of Deer On Field og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Health Officials Are Worried That ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Someday Spread to Humans twitter:description: Its official name is chronic wasting disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de60b9a9b4e34ce/6989455aab6d770b7d6b4d5b/zombie-deer-disease.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Health Officials Are Worried That ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Someday Spread to Humans > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 19, 2019 4:57 PM UTC  Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 19, 2019 4:57 PM UTC Officials are worried that a prion disease spreading among deer in the U.S. may someday threaten the health of humans. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), which is nicknamed “zombie deer disease,” gets its name from a range of symptoms. For deer, elk and moose, these include stumbling, listlessness, drooling and rapid weight loss. The fatal disease degrades the brains, spines and bodies of the animals it infects, and there are no known treatments or vaccines. No cases of CWD have been recorded in humans. It has not even been definitely proven that humans can be infected by CWD, though [some research](https://www.cste2.org/Webinars/files/CWD%5FSlides%5FFINAL.pdf) has suggested it’s possible. But the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says](https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/occurrence.html) that as of January 2019, the disease has been reported in deer, elk and moose in 251 counties in 24 U.S. states, primarily in the Midwest. It has also been found in two provinces in Canada. While CWD is still relatively rare, infection rates among deer and elk in areas where the disease is most common have been recorded at about 10-25%, the CDC says, and rates can be especially high among captive deer. CWD was first identified in Colorado in the late 1960s. “If CWD could spread to people, it would most likely be through eating of infected deer and elk,” the CDC says on its website. About 11.5 million Americans hunt, according to [statistics](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/demo/fhw16-nat.pdf) from the U.S. Department of the Interior; it’s unclear how many eat the game they hunt. CWD is related to [Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease](https://www.cdc.gov/prions/vcjd/index.html), or the human form of mad cow disease, which scientists believe can be transmitted to humans by eating contaminated meat. Among animals, CWD spreads by contact with contaminated bodily fluids or tissues, or tainted food or water. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, warned Minnesota lawmakers about the possible human threat of CWD earlier this month, [NBC News reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hunters-say-it-s-not-zombie-disease-they-are-worried-n972476). “It is probable that human cases of chronic wasting disease associated with consumption with contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead,” Osterholm said. “It’s possible the number of human cases will be substantial, and will not be isolated events.” The CDC recommends that hunters and people who eat deer, elk or moose stay aware of where CWD has been found and heed local public health guidance. If CWD has been recorded in a given area, the CDC “recommends that hunters strongly consider having those animals tested before eating the meat.” Hunters should also avoid shooting, handling or eating meat from animals that look sick or were found dead; wear gloves while handling carcasses; and minimize exposure to the animal’s organs, the CDC says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5532416/what-is-zombie-deer-disease/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5532416/what-is-zombie-deer-disease/"},"headline":"Health Officials Are Worried That ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Someday Spread to Humans","datePublished":"2019-02-19T16:57:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:48:17.025Z","description":"Its official name is chronic wasting disease","url":"https://time.com/5532416/what-is-zombie-deer-disease/","keywords":["Public Health","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de60b9a9b4e34ce/6989455aab6d770b7d6b4d5b/zombie-deer-disease.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de60b9a9b4e34ce/6989455aab6d770b7d6b4d5b/zombie-deer-disease.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Portrait Of Deer On Field","caption":"Zombie deer disease","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5532416/what-is-zombie-deer-disease/","name":"Health Officials Are Worried That ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ Could Someday Spread to Humans"}}]}] ```