Zombie deer may sound like something in a bad B-movie, but wildlife regulators say they're real and officials are working to keep them out of Nevada. Officials are testing dead animals and monitoring migratory elk and deer at the state line with Utah for signs of the sickness, Peregrine Wolff, a Nevada Department of Wildlife veterinarian, said. Instead, it is transmitted by prions — protein particles that have been linked to brain diseases including mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. J.J. Goicoechea, a state Department of Agriculture veterinarian, told lawmakers that officials fear the spread of the disease into Nebraska, Utah, Idaho and Nevada. Wolff said efforts to decrease risk probably won't stop the disease at the Nevada state line.

Source: ABC News October 06, 2019 23:37 UTC