Chronic Wasting Disease, commonly referred to as “Zombie Deer Disease” affects an animal’s neurological systems. Proteins in its brain begin to bend, spreading throughout the body. This is extremely dangerous and results in the death of the animal. This practically turns an animal’s brain into a hollow sponge and is 100% fatal. The terrifying part is, it can happen to humans.

     Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is the variant that occurs in humans. About two decades ago, an outbreak of this occurred throughout cattle, being named Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, more popularly known as “Mad Cow Disease.” Cows ended up receiving this due to multiple grave mistakes in feeding the cows, such as feeding them body parts of other organisms. This ended up mutating and spreading to humans, causing over 200 deaths. Despite not being well known in the public eye after this, it could very soon cause problems for those who enjoy hunting and eating deer.

    “Deer are a really important part of the animal kingdom, and if something happens or they get so diseased that they start infecting other animals, I think that could be a very significant problem,” said eighth grade English teacher Ms. Sen Rider. 

    CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) is very prevalent in herds within the State of Colorado. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, around half of their deer population has been exposed to CWD. Despite not being proven to spread to humans, all it takes is one variant to mutate to a human. 

   Chronic Wasting Disease may not be prevalent now, but in the next decade, it could become an issue.