Two hunters 'become first Americans to die from ZOMBIE DEER disease' after ... trends now
Two hunters may have become the first Americans to die from a 'zombie deer' disease.
Researchers have been warning for years that the nearly 100 percent deadly chronic wasting disease (CWD) - which leaves deer confused, drooling, and unafraid of humans - could jump from animals to people.
But a new study theorizes that it has already happened - in two hunters who died in 2022 after eating contaminated venison.
One of the victims, a 72-year-old man, suffered 'rapid-onset confusion and aggression,' as well as seizures.
Because CWD is so contagious, when one deer is confirmed to have died from it, an entire herd is infected. Pictured: a deer in Kansas showing signs of CWD
At least 32 states in America and parts of Canada have seen reports of a virus dubbed 'zombie deer disease' that could potentially spread to humans
His condition quickly deteriorated, and he died within a month.
He was diagnosed after his death with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a brain-wasting condition that has been compared to Mad Cow Disease.
CJD is caused by misfolded proteins - when proteins do not fold into the correct shape - called prions.
After infection, prions travel throughout the central nervous system, leaving prion deposits in brain tissues and organs.
The hunter's friend also died from the disease but there were limited details about his condition in the research published last week in the journal Neurology.
The researchers are from Texas but details about where the deaths happened is also not known. DailyMail.com has reached out to the researchers for comment.
Similar to CWD, CJD is caused by misfolded prions, though it most likely afflicts patients at random.
However,
