Zombie Deer Disease: Chronic Wasting Disease Identified for the First Time in Yellowstone National Park [NPS]

A 'zombie deer disease' affecting cervids, a mammal belonging to the deer family, has sparked renewed concerns in the United States, where Wyoming first had the same pathogenic threat several decades ago. The new threat comes after an adult mule deer was found dead in the country's Yellowstone National Park. Following the deer's death, US wildlife authorities confirmed for the first time the identification of the said disease, officially known as the chronic wasting disease, at the park.

Chronic wasting disease or CWD is a type of prion disease, which pertains to an infectious agent called prion, a misfolded protein that can cause other normal proteins in the body, especially the brain, to engage in cellular death or fold abnormally. As a result, the prion causes fatal neurologic disease among members of the family Cervidae. Although no infections on humans have been reported so far, health authorities warn people to avoid eating meat from potentially infected animals.

Zombie Deer Disease

In a news release by the National Park Service (NPS) earlier this week, officials of the Yellowstone National Park and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) announced traces of chronic wasting disease in the carcass of the mule deer buck. The wild animal was found near Yellowstone Lake, located in the southeastern area of the park. The presence of the disease was confirmed by WFGD's Wildlife Health Laboratory after the samples from the carcass tested positive of the zombie deer disease.

The identity of the mule deer dates back earlier this year when it was captured by a WGFD staff near Cody, Wyoming, in March 2023. The capturing of the animal was part of the department's population dynamics study where the wildlife is equipped with a GPS collar. The tracking device allowed the local wildlife officials to determine that the animal died by mid-October 2023.

Specifically, the animal carcass was discovered in Promontory, a landmass that separates the southern and southeastern parts of Yellowstone Lake. The officials concluded that this is the first confirmed case of the chronic wasting disease in Yellowstone National Park.

Chronic Wasting Disease

The death of the mule deer from chronic wasting disease in Yellowstone National Park has prompted a heightened alert when it comes to the monitoring and other measures against the zombie deer disease. Some of these measures include the following:

• Increased collaboration between Yellowstone National Park officials with the WGFD and other state agencies.
• Increased monitoring of the presence of chronic wasting disease in deer and other animals like moose and elk.
• Increased investigation and collection of carcasses and samples related with the zombie deer disease.

According to the WGFD, chronic wasting disease was first detected from a mule deer back in 1985 in southeastern Wyoming and it was also found in an elk in 1986. Since then, the disease has spread westward, affecting cervids in most part of the state.