‘The Walking Dead’ Reacts to Possibility of Brain-Eating Zombie Deer Disease Spreading to Humans

The official Walking Dead Twitter account brought attention to chronic wasting disease, or CWD, which Indepedent reports is a “‘zombie’ deer disease” capable of spreading to humans who eat deer meat.

Though 15,000 infected animals are eaten each year — a number that could grow 20 percent annually — there have been no documented cases of humans contracting the disease, which the Centers for Disease Control says can be transmitted to other animals such as primates.

Per Independent, CWD “attacks tissues including the brain and spinal cord, causing dramatic weight loss, loss of coordination, listlessness, drooling, excessive thirst or urination and intense aggression before the animal dies.”

“It is probable that human cases of chronic wasting disease associated with consumption with contaminated meat will be documented in the years ahead,” infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm told USA Today. Osterholm compared the situation to “mad cow” disease.

“It’s like a throw at the genetic roulette table,” Osterholm said. “If you put this into a meat processing plant, this is kind of a worst-case nightmare.”

Symptoms of the disease are comparable to the Walking Dead virus that reanimates the freshly dead, turning corpses into mindless and clumsy yet aggressive flesh-eaters.

Creator Robert Kirkman previously said The Walking Dead is unlikely to explore the origins of the zombie outbreak, calling the cause a “crazy sci-fi thing that would make the story all that much weirder.”

“Maybe years after it’s all over I’ll just casually mention it in an interview. That seems like a very [Harry Potter author] J.K. Rowling thing to do,” Kirkman quipped last March in response to an inquiring fan.

“It couldn’t be less important to the story and the lives of these characters. It would be completely out of place in the story. Honestly if a scientist from Washington came to the character and told them what happened the characters would just shrug and say ‘Oh… okay…’ it wouldn’t change their lives at all… and… I’ve said too much.”

The Walking Dead, now in its ninth season, airs new episodes Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

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