U.S. National Parks in Crisis: Yellowstone Deer Infected with Chronic Wasting Disease

U.S. National Parks Declare State of Emergency Due to Abnormal Deer Behavior
First Confirmed Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Case in Deer

Cases of a deer-related disease have been detected for the first time in one of America’s flagship national parks, triggering an emergency.

According to recent reports from foreign media outlets like the New York Post and Forbes, a deer infected with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was identified for the first time in Yellowstone, a mega-sized national park spanning across the northwestern part of Wyoming, the southern part of Montana, and the eastern part of Idaho.

Yellowstone National Park, the first-ever national park in the world, is home to various flora and fauna, including deer.

According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), a blood sample from a deer known to inhabit Yellowstone National Park tested positive for CWD.

CWD, or Chronic Wasting Disease, is an infectious disease that primarily damages the central nervous systems of deer and elk.

The brains of animals infected with this disease develop sponge-like holes, and these animals often exhibit signs of mental abnormalities.

Mainly, they show symptoms similar to mad cow disease, such as drooling excessively or suddenly collapsing to the ground, like cows infected with mad cow disease.

Experts claim that deer infected with CWD tend to lose their expressions, fear humans less, and become more aggressive compared to regular deer.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, CWD has recently spread to 23 U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and even Korea. However, according to domestic agencies such as the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, CWD is not a zoonotic disease, unlike mad cow disease.

The U.S. National Park Service stated in an official statement, “There is no evidence yet that CWD can infect humans or other livestock,” but recommended “not consuming the tissues or meat of infected animals for the time being.”

Meanwhile, there is currently no known vaccine or treatment developed for CWD. Experts warn that eating venison at this time could be risky. Michael Osterholm, a professor at the American Society for Microbiology, also claimed, “If you consume venison infected with CWD, there may be a latency period of several years,” and predicted that “cases of humans infected with CWD will appear within 10 years.”