The Millstone Times April 2019

What is the “Deer Zombie Disease” everyone is talking about?

Apparently, species of deer around the country are contracting some sort of condition being called "Zombie Deer Disease" by various media outlets, which causes them to behave sort of like zombies. The CDC, Center for Disease Control and Protection says that this is called CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease). CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects the brain, spinal cord, and many other tissues of farmed and free- ranging deer, elk, and moose.

CWD belongs to a family of diseases called prion diseases or transmissible spongiformencephalopathies (TSEs). OtherTSEs include bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goats, and Creutzfeldt- Jacob disease and other human prion diseases in people, including variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (the human form of “mad cow disease”) in people. The infection is believed to be caused by abnormal proteins called prions, which are thought to cause damage to other normal prion proteins that can be found in tissues throughout the body but most often in the brain and spinal cord, leading to brain damage and development of prion diseases. Scientists think CWD spreads between animals through contact with contaminated body fluids and tissue or indirectly through exposure to CWD in the environment, such as in drinking water or food. CWD affects many different species of hoofed animals including North American elk or Wapiti, red deer, mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, Sika deer, reindeer, and moose. Like other prion diseases, CWD may have an incubation period of over a year and clear neurological signs may develop slowly. Deer, elk, reindeer, sika, and moose with CWD may not show any signs of the disease for years after they become infected. As CWD progresses, infected animals may have a variety of changes in behavior and appearance. These may include: • drastic weight loss (wasting) • stumbling • lack of coordination • listlessness • drooling It is often difficult to diagnose a deer, elk, or moose with CWD based on these symptoms alone because many of CWD symptoms also occur with other diseases and malnutrition. CWD is always fatal. CWD does not appear to naturally infect cattle or other domesticated animals. But before you cut ties with your affection for Bambi or start squashing bugs, remember that the CDC does not currently find these diseases active threats to humans. • excessive thirst or urination • drooping ears • lack of fear of people • aggression

The Logic of Logos and Catchphrases A N S W E R S

Continued from page 8

01. A silver bullet 02. Ed Sullivan 03. On Route 66 04. Protect the innocent 05. The Lion Sleeps Tonight 06. Limbo 07. Chocolate

08. Louis Armstrong 09. The Timex watch

14. Sputnik 15. Hoola-hoop 16. Lucky Strike/Means Fine Tobacco 17. Howdy Doody Time 18. Shadow 19. Monster Mash 20. Speedy

10. Freddy, The Freeloader and God Bless. 11. Draft cards (Bras were also burned. Not flags, as some have guessed)

12. Beetle, Bug 13. Buddy Holly

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