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Managing the disease "is one of the greatest wildlife challenges we face," state officials said. (Shutterstock)
PENNSYLVANIA — A new report outlines the status of chronic wasting disease in Pennsylvania and details the efforts made by state officials to manage what an official said is "one of the greatest wildlife challenges we face."
The disease — nicknamed "Zombie deer disease" — is a highly contagious infection that develops very slowly in the lymph nodes, spinal tissue and brains of deer.
While there is no evidence that it can be spread to humans and there have been no reported cases of infections in people, some animal studies suggest chronic wasting disease poses a risk to certain types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk, according to the Centers for Diesease Control. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people.