NC Wildlife officials push testing as they look to control the spread of ‘zombie’ deer

Chronic wasting disease, also known as zombie deer disease, was first discovered in NC in 2022. The fatal neurological disease has no known cure and can take years to show symptoms

Hoping to keep a disease fatal to deer and potentially dangerous to humans in check, North Carolina wildlife officials are reminding hunters to be careful when handling deer carcasses and to get harvested animals tested.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious neurological disease with no known cure that affects deer, elk, moose and other members of the deer family, also known as cervids. The disease, which is always fatal in deer, has been slowly spreading across North America and was first noticed in North Carolina in March 2022.

Since that discovery northwest of the Piedmont, deer infected with CWD have been found in Cumberland County and this fall in Johnston and Franklin counties.

That’s prompted the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which has been monitoring for CWD since 1999, to remind hunters to take precautions when transporting or disposing of deer carcasses.

“CWD is highly transmissible to other deer,” states a wildlife resources release. “It spreads through infected saliva, urine and feces of live deer and the movement of deer carcasses and carcass parts. During early stages of infection, deer may appear healthy; therefore, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stresses to hunters the importance of taking precautions when transporting or disposing of deer carcasses.”

With it likely that CWD is active in other counties, officials say hunters should try to bury deer remains where the animal was harvested. If that’s not possible, then bagging and disposing of the carcass at a landfill or just leaving the remains on the ground where it was killed are the next best options.

“While this will not prevent deer or scavengers from coming into contact with potentially infected parts, at least those parts will remain in the general area where the deer was taken,” states a wildlife resources online post on best disposal efforts.

The commission also offers free CWD testing of deer samples, with results taking about two to four weeks to be posted on the the commission’s “Go Outdoors NC” website, where hunters and others can open a personal account for free. Hunters are allowed to process their deer while they wait for the test results, disposing of the meat if there is a positive result.

Statewide, 15,851 samples were submitted from cervid health cooperators and hunters during the 2022-23 hunting season. Testing was mandatory for deer taken in counties around Fayetteville for most of November, but is now “voluntary and highly encouraged.”

Officials say continued testing of the state’s deer herd is imperative because it’s nearly impossible to tell if a deer has CWD just by looking at it and signs of an infection may not be apparent for 16 months or more.

“The long incubation period, ease of transmission, and the fact that there is no vaccine, treatment or cure make CWD a looming threat to the state’s white-tailed deer population and deer hunting traditions,” states a commission release, noting that the disease left unchecked could shorten deer lifespans and decimate the state’s deer population.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CWD has never been reported in people. But some scientific studies suggest some non-human primates that eat infected meat or come into contact with body fluids from infected animals could catch the disease. That’s prompted the World Health Organization since 1997 to recommend keeping meat from animals with the disease out of the human food chain.

According to the wildlife commission, North Carolina hunters harvested nearly 164,000 deer during the 2022-23 hunting season, with Anson and Randolph counties the top two counties in the state. In the Wilmington area, hunters bagged 2,587 deer in Pender County, 1,774 in Brunswick County, and 197 in New Hanover County. The deer hunting season runs through Jan 1, 2024.

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full  editorial control of the work.