What Is Zombie Deer Disease (Chronic Wasting Disease)?

How To Prevent It

Since chronic wasting disease is fatal and is increasingly prevalent in deer, doctors are focused on ways to protect hunters and other individuals who interact with deer and wild game. In terms of how to prevent it, experts advise that hunters have any deer they kill tested for chronic wasting disease. If a deer appears to be stumbling or otherwise acting abnormally, contact with the animal should be avoided, and any meat from them should not be handled or eaten. The brain and spinal cord of a deer should not be handled or cut through, and individuals should refrain from eating lymph nodes, eyes, spleen, or tonsils from deer. Gloves are essential when handling deer meat, and contact with deer feces and urine is not recommended. Individuals who see deer behaving strangely should contact their local health or wildlife department.