(ProsperNews.net) – Scientists are warning that a disease discovered in animals in Yellowstone National Park last year could spread to humans. A deer carcass in Wyoming tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in November, and while there is no record of it transmitting to humans, epidemiologists say it is entirely possible.
“The BSE outbreak in Britain provided an example of how, overnight, things can get crazy when a spillover event happens from, say, livestock to people,” said Dr. Cory Anderson.
Known as “Mad Cow Disease,” Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) broke out in Britain in the 1980s, and it remains a concern in the country today. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, 178 people died, and more than four million cows were slaughtered as a result of BSE and its human equivalent known as variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD).
The British Food Standards Agency says that CJD is not a new disease, but a new strain was uncovered in the 1980s that unusually affected younger people. Scientists determined that the new and deadly strain could be sourced to human beef consumption from BSE-affected cattle.
CWD is a cluster of fatal brain disorders that includes BSE, and therefore, scientists are concerned that it could be transmitted to people in the same way. Dr. Anderson furthermore warned that when an infection is located, it is extremely difficult to eradicate it from the surrounding area, and it is known to be resistant to many disinfectants and even to formaldehyde, radiation, and incineration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says CWD affects deer, elk, moose, and similar animals and has been discovered in the United States, Canada, South Korea, and Norway. Studies suggest, however, that it can transmit to non-human primates and, as such, poses a threat to humans through the most likely route of meat consumption of deer or elk.
The CDC advises not to eat meat from animals that look sick or act strangely.
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