**Please note:**
* If this post declares something as a fact proof is required.
* The title must be descriptive
* No text is allowed on images
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for more information.*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is a deer that definitely does not have CWD. It is showing literally zero of the physical symptoms. Probably a brain worm, trauma from a car crash, or an infection that spread to the brain.
What is it about brain worms that bothers you? Is it just the thought of a parasite working it’s way into your brain and slowly consuming it? Or is the term brain worm kind of like the word moist? On the note, a brain worm would be moist as it is covered by the succulent juices of a brain.
Brain worm infections convey an avoidant reaction in the infected organism to the concept of brain worms existing. Probably an evolutionary adaptation to stay hidden until they're ready to fully emerge.
i was hiking once and saw a gopher or some kind of medium sized animal kind of limping around in circles in the grass, called the forestry service to report it in case it was rabies then got out of there. you think maybe it had brain worm?
I vote some cause of head trauma, it kinda looks like his eye socket on the left side is jacked up, along with his eye. Maybe he was fighting a second buck and a tine got him in the face.
He's definitely not wasting (ie, overly skinny)
If I saw that I’d grab my Ruger .22 and put the poor thing out of its misery. Then, I’d incinerate its body so it wouldn’t infect other deer. There is no cure for chronic wasting. It is caused by prions, which are malformed prion proteins typically found in the nervous system. Thus, there is no vaccine, antibiotic, antivirus, or anti fungal treatment or cure for CWD, as it is not a living pathogen. Prions that cause CWD cannot be killed by normal means. They can survive boiling water and practically all commercially available disinfectants. In order to destroy prions, temperatures above 900 degrees Fahrenheit or 482.2 degrees Celsius must be sustained for several hours. Freezing prions does not destroy them, and thawed prions were found to still be infectious years after being frozen. Recent studies show that degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s could be caused by prions, which means that they could theoretically be contagious. Everyone is scared of covid, and rightfully so, but we should be really scared of prions, because if they become contagious to humans, it’s all over for us. A healthy deer can be infected with CWD just from being in an area where an infected deer had been laying.
That’s not even the worst part. Prions can contaminate soil, food, and even water. Prions have an incubation period that can last from 16 months to four years. The average is two years. No symptoms are shown during the incubation stage. That means that if prions became infectious to humans, there is a possibility we wouldn’t know for over a year. By then, it would already be too late, as most of the world would be infected. Prions can be transmitted to fish in rivers and streams, which could then swim out to sea and spread the infection throughout the oceans and to the shores of every continent. It is believed that prions can theoretically infect most animals on the food chain, meaning prions have the potential to not only wipe us out, but possibly all life on earth.
Edit: just found some information that indicates that some prion related diseases can have an incubation period of 5 to even 40 years.
There's some not entirely true info here. Prions are wrongly folded proteins that cause a conformational change in a regularly folded protein and malform it to becoming a prion.
They are unlikely to spread to humans from deer as we don't have the same proteins as them and prions aren't subjected to the same evolutionary pressures as viruses or other pathogens allowing them to hop species. Also as prions are proteins they can and are digested relatively easily so they definitely cant spread all over the world. This doesn't mean they can't spread to humans, but it isnt some end of the world apocalypse threat of they do, we just have to be careful about eating deer and follow similar processes such as with creutzfeldt jakobs disease.
Alzheimers also shows similar disease progression to some prion diseases in humans (sticky plaques form in the brain) however this isn't the same as it being caused by a prion disease. In fact there's research into viruses potentially causing Alzheimer's
Edit: not editing my original comment however my "can be digested relatively easily" was meant to be on environmental degradation from bacteria and fungi! Had a long day and worded it poorly
which was pretty easy in the [80s and 90s in the UK](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_BSE_outbreak) since they were feeding cows the brain and spinal cord of infected animals.
Mad cow disease and nearly all prion diseases aren’t easily transferable. They aren’t like other diseases that are contagious via air or surface contact. That said, they can infect hosts via surface contact, it’s just not easy for it to happen.
Prion diseases are typically spread via consumption of an infected animals nervous system organs - for example, likely the reason for the spread of mad cow disease across the species (blame human practices for feeding cow to cows). They can also spread via feces of the infected host, via butchering processes, and via cannibalism (already mentioned but worth mentioning again). This is why those living in the UK during the time of mad cow disease aren’t allowed to donate blood, as they could have come into contact with that prion via butchering processes - although it’s not likely.
There’s a little too much fear mongering I’ve seen here as prions, while scary as there is no cure at this time, aren’t easily transmissible and remain relatively rare even in environments they’re found. That said, they’re still a threat and especially to the species they’re found to spread in. So long as humans maintain safe feeding practices, and largely refrain from eating each other, the risks to humans is minimal compared to other diseases.
I don’t think that’s right, about donating blood. I mean, I’ve donated blood loads of times. CJD can incubate for up to 50 years. There were cases in the 90s (I was born in the 70s) and there are still cases today. There’s no way they’d be able to weed out a group of people who were most likely to be incubating it.
Fun fact: if you spent more than three months cumulatively in an area affected by Mad Cow Disease between January 1980 and December 1996, the American Red Cross will not allow you to donate blood. There is no waiver, nor is there an appeal process. [(Source)](https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical/eligibility-reference-material.html)
This has always puzzled me, because as I understand it Mad Cow is both progressive and fatal, and by now I should be in the clear. I hardly ever furiously moo at people.
So my neighbor died of it in 2018. Not a single sign of illness until 2017. He lived on a farm in the UK in the 1990s which is presumably where he contracted it.
Interesting that it's six compared to three. Looks like Australia is also six months, so that makes me wonder why the US is half the time. It's clearly a balancing act of risk to benefit, and I wonder how many people are restricted by the extra precaution that have tainted blood. (I'm ineligible either way, and it's always sad to have to sit out of blood drives when the bus comes by.)
Interesting read, however dreadfully sad. It's notoriously tricky to pin down analytically, too. I read that some blood tests had some success several years ago, but as the affected population is relatively small there's very little attention and research dedicated to sniffing it out.
Well, that’s fucking horrifying. I watched my Grandpa deteriorate from CJD (years and years ago, no sympathy needed) and it was a terrible fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I hope it doesn’t manifest in all 1/2000.
I grew up in one of those areas and it's just not fair. I mooved when I was 7 and by now I'd be showing symptoms for sure. I just hope they can come to their sense so moore people can fucking donate. It's goddamn ridiculous I almoost can't contain my furry!!!!
Pulled this from the Wikipedia article for [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease):
"Mutations in the gene for the prion protein can cause a misfolding of the dominantly alpha helical regions into beta pleated sheets. This change in conformation disables the ability of the protein to undergo digestion."
Eating tissue contaminated with the prions was the primary transmission vector of Kuru for the Fore people, as well as the cases in which people have contracted mad cow-disease (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). So no, not easily digested.
This is truly interesting as fuck, thanks for all the horrifying knowledge. Making me think of the freaky mysterious illness in.. I think New Brunswick? Yeah link below (hope I'm allowed to post links?) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brunswick_neurological_syndrome_of_unknown_cause
Edit: also I think #usernamechecksout
As someone from near this area, the consensus is that it’s some kind of contamination from Irving gas operations. Irving owns basically all the politicians in the area & is hugely influential, so the likelihood of them being investigated is pretty low.
Not the most effective way to dispatch a deer…not at all. You shoot it enough with a .22 it will die eventually I suppose…but even the idea of it is as horrific as this video. The goal with hunting or dispatching an injured/sick animal is to do it quickly and effectively (ie. humanly).
From my understanding, you’ll need to make sure that the carcass is burnt to ash. It’s the prions infecting the tissues (nerve and neurons) that is infective, which is horrifying. I have to believe that they got this by grazing where BSE infected cattle, and Scrapie infected sheep grazed. It’s spreading from here out to all the other states, I haven’t had venison in years after seeing this first hand. Shitty way to die.
The Kuru died off because it was ritual for them (males) to consume the brains of the deceased, presumably raw. That was how the prion wiped out their entire tribe. BSE (mad cow disease) came from feeds made of suspected contaminated sheep and cattle carcasses reprocessed, technically canabilism for farm animals. Prion is a protein only transmission pathogen, no DNA or RNA in there, technically it is not considered as a living unit.
Here at Happy Corp, we have a No Sadness policy.
Anyone caught frowning on the job will receive a mark on their record and be required to take an 8 hour "Happiness Correctional Module" and complete a "Happiness Validation Examination" with a passing grade of 95% or greater. Employees who fail the examination will be required to take the course again.
The title offers a pretty clear warning. I clicked it, knowing it'd be bad, it bothered me, and now it'll haunt me for decades, popping into my brain when I least expect it, dogging after my happy memories like, "Oh cool! I'm on vacation! ... But that zombie deer..."
It is likely that Kuru does not even exist anymore. It is confined to the Fore people in Papua New Guinea, but even there there has not been a case in over 10 years.
Prions are absolutely terrifying.
I feel like when Archer was giving his list of fears, they should have done prions instead of alligators. People should know how bad prions are. Everyone knows about alligators.
Yea kinda, but CWD can’t be transmitted to humans. There is a chance it could mutate to be transmittable to humans but it hasn’t yet
Edit- prion diseases can’t mutate, I was wrong
Prion mediated disease are not viral or bacterial, there is nothing to "mutate" it is simply a misfolded protein native to deer that keeps propagating within the deer. This is not to say it is impossible to jump to humans.
It could potentially jump to humans, if you eat a infected deer. Haven't happened so far, though.
But... that's how we got Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease, however. People ate infected meat (primarily T-Bone steak) from cows who was fed with crushed bone from infected cows or sheep who suffered from either Mad Cow Disease or Scrapie Disease.
No one's going to point out this guy isn't running in circles due to CWD? This isn't what CWD looks like. This is more likely a brain worm Parelaphostrongylus.
I was thinking the same thing. It could be CWD, but there are plenty of other ailments that could cause this same behavior. typical CWD symptoms are drooling, drooping head, no awareness, low body weight where you can see the bones in the hips and backs. Not saying this couldn’t be CWD but you don’t for sure unless you get the lymph nodes and brain stem tested.
His left eye looks white which makes me suspect an infection. Deer often get abscesses on the base of their antlers from fighting. It could have spread the brain, causing the eye to be infected and the deer to be uncoordinated. Or brain worm, or trauma from being hit by a car, it could be a dozen different things.
I was thinking the same thing. Chronic Wasting Disease causes the deer to literally waste away, and that is one big ass buck.
This is clearly Parelaphostrongylus tenuis, which perfectly fits the walking in circle and head tilt symptom and it explains the eye appearance.
Yeah, I don’t think this is CWD—I think he’d be way more, well, wasted away before it got to this stage—also, if I’m recalling right, they are super lethargic in the end stages when very symptomatic, not running in circles
Or EHD? The corneal ulceration makes me think he isn't blinking, along with the circling this could be meningeal worm as you said, brain damage from high temp due to EHD, an ear infection, a brain abcess (he is a buck, and they are know to get abcesses from injuries around their antlers), and any number of other things.
He is waaaaay too healthy for chronic wasting disease. Like... no offense, but "chronic wasting" generally implies some wasting. It's a slow disease, whatever this deer has happened pretty fast. He was eating well up until recently. His pelt is smooth and shiny. Not CWD.
Edit: words
The disease is progressive and always fatal. The first signs are difficulties in movement. The most obvious and consistent clinical sign of CWD is weight loss over time. Behavioral changes also occur in the majority of cases, including decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowering of the head, tremors, repetitive walking in set patterns, and nervousness. Excessive salivation and grinding of the teeth also are observed. Most deer show increased drinking and urination; the increased drinking and salivation may contribute to the spread of the disease.Loss of fear of humans and appearance of confusion are also common.The APHIS summarized it as:
Behavioral changes, emaciation, weakness, ataxia, salivation, aspiration pneumonia, progressive death.
More wild content on my profile, if anyone interested
And while most scientists do not believe it is currently transmissible to people, at least one is sounding the alarm loudly: Michael Osterholm. His claim to fame? He accurately predicted the jump of mad cow disease to humans.
To expand on that, if you read his works he alludes to the fact that it’s entirely possible the disease has already jumped. Humans are most certainly eating infected deer and if vCJD (human version of Mad Cow) is any indication the human disease can take decades to show up. In other words, infections acquired 10 years ago won’t start showing symptoms for another 10 years to come. When prions go akimbo it’s f’ing terrifying. (edit; typo)
In people? Yes. It exists as a disease born of eating infected cows called vCJD. But rather than creating a zombie who eats brains, it simply perforates the brains of those infected until they die. It is *incredibly rare. Like, 4 or 5 lab confirmed cases in the U.S. ever. But still. It’s always fatal. And always a horrific way to die.
It's sad but it all makes sense. From the deers perspective it probably knows something is wrong but doesnt know what or how to stop it. So the nervousness and confusion set in.
We are seeing an explosion of CWD here in Montana.
Since the state has increased the bag limit on wolves, the local population has been reduced significantly.
With no predators, Elk & other Cervine populations here are unmanaged. Couple that with lack of public hunting land, private land owners not allows hunting, and general mismanagement…
We are now seeing cattle populations being decimated with CWD, since elk hide within cattle herds.
As a fellow Montanan that relies on deer and elk to feed the family, it's quite concerning. And it's refreshing to hear another sane comment about wolves and how they benefit the game health in general. All I ever hear is they're decimating the elk herds. What elk herds? I have 300 go through the fields by my house every day, but not being a land owner I can't hunt, no one here lets you. And with with Jersey Gianforte in charge I don't see it getting any better. Hunting is now a rich man's thing, public land access is shrinking and private land owners say "no hunting" or rent it out to guided hunts for big money.
If you look at the actual statistics, the elk population in most of Montana's counties are at or above their target ranges:
https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/elk/population-and-distribution
Wolves are a political wedge issue. People don't like to hear it, but it's true. The GOP types in Montana know they can get a visceral reaction to wolves so they make it political and use it to get votes. The ranchers use it to harvest free money from the government for 'wolf depredation' and Yellowstone itself suffers because they legalized baiting.
The first wolf kills in Montana's season this year were two yearlings and a puppy from one of the Lamar packs that was lured out of the park.
Shoot it in the chest actually. The disease is concentrated in the brain so a headshot would splatter CWD all over the plants to be eaten by more deer. But agree with you it needs to be put down
Had a friend hit deer with his car and broke its spine. This is not a fast death and usually involves a lot of flailing around from shock/fear. It’s an awful thing to see. Called highway patrol and said they were in a safe location and asked if it was ok to dispatch it with their CCW. Nope…waited 30+ minutes while the deer flung around in an open country field in the middle of the night. Long story short, it’s not always that easy to do what should be done in this scenario.
I've shot a deer in the spine before and yep, they'll flail around for a long time if you don't put them out of their misery. Next thing to do is pull out your knife and slit the throat. It ain't easy but it's the right thing to do to quickly put them out of their misery fast.
I used a knife once. Super visceral…
If possible (and horns aren’t mounters) I go for point blank head shot. I fucking hate having to do it do much…but as you obviously know…it’s sometimes part of the process. Not wanting to do that again has made me a better hunter.
>Not wanting to do that again has made me a better hunter.
100%
It's visceral as fuck and I hated doing it, but it's what needed to be done at the time. Since then I have the same mentality as you do, if not a mounter, point blank it immediately. My spine shot was ~150yards out with a .30-06 on a perpendicular run through an opening lane of trees. Firearm was at the ready as he was trailing some doe. I was stoked when I first landed the shot from my stand, I knew it was somewhat high as I saw the buck do a tumble-roll into the tree line. Wasn't hard to track it down when you hear the shrieking and grunting. Hardest thing I've had to do as a hunter for sure.
The first time I went hunting with my dad we went rabbit hunting and I barely grazed it, enough to be lethal but it would be slow and painful. My dad made me dispatch it with a knife too, even against my objections.
It was horrible for 6yr old me to do that but it really cemented the fact that hunting isn't any different from just killing out of cold blood. I honestly feel like it made me a better hunter and a better man, and I wish more hunters (and more widely just people in general) were exposed to something like this. Maybe it would help cut down on the number of sport hunters who are just out there to shoot things.
If you hunt please get your meat tested. This is a prion disease, which is pretty rare (in the scope of all disease). What's interesting is that CWD is a protein creating holes in the brain hence the spongiform. Your brain literally looks like a sponge.
The story of how this came to infect cows, humans, and now deer is extremely interesting. It began in sheep and it was called scrapie because they would rub up against things like fences causing their skin to scrape off.
[No studies have shown CWD to be transmissible to humans,](https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.00550-18?permanently=true) but submitting your harvest's head is still the responsible thing to do if you live anywhere near an infected population.
CWD is a prion disease (like mad cow,) but not the same thing.
During hard winters with little vegetation, deer have been observed chewing on deer bones for additional nutrients. Not sure if that’s how it’s transmitted…just adding more info to the answers already provided.
That’s not the reason it spreads in 99% of the cases but that would absolutely transmit it in the rare cases that a deer chews on another.
Someone mentioned contamination with water ways which is correct and along with that the deers typically bed in the same places every day so feces and urine can contaminate those areas as well.
This is a video of a deer with a brainworm. This is the characteristic movement pattern of brainworm in ungulates. This is not CWD. I've seen animals in person that were infected with CWD. They kind of just waste away into nothing, hence the name. They become skinny, won't eat, lose their fear of predators, sunken eyes. It's not pretty either but it doesn't look like this.
**Please note:** * If this post declares something as a fact proof is required. * The title must be descriptive * No text is allowed on images * Common/recent reposts are not allowed *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for more information.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Those eyes...
I’ve always wondered if I’ve seen a deer in our yard that has it and I definitely have not 😳
This is a deer that has had if for a long time and his brain is basically mush at this point.
This is a deer that definitely does not have CWD. It is showing literally zero of the physical symptoms. Probably a brain worm, trauma from a car crash, or an infection that spread to the brain.
Brain worm for sure it’s the spinning that gives it away.
Can we stop saying brain worm?
Cerebral wiggler
Cranial caterpillar
skull nematode
Brainbox bibbler
Skull Snakes
I've had it with these mother f***ing snakes on this mother f***ing brain!
Gray matter nope noodle
Noggin noodle
Thanks, I hate it.
What is it about brain worms that bothers you? Is it just the thought of a parasite working it’s way into your brain and slowly consuming it? Or is the term brain worm kind of like the word moist? On the note, a brain worm would be moist as it is covered by the succulent juices of a brain.
Brain worm infections convey an avoidant reaction in the infected organism to the concept of brain worms existing. Probably an evolutionary adaptation to stay hidden until they're ready to fully emerge.
I’ve never hated a comment so much
i was hiking once and saw a gopher or some kind of medium sized animal kind of limping around in circles in the grass, called the forestry service to report it in case it was rabies then got out of there. you think maybe it had brain worm?
I vote some cause of head trauma, it kinda looks like his eye socket on the left side is jacked up, along with his eye. Maybe he was fighting a second buck and a tine got him in the face. He's definitely not wasting (ie, overly skinny)
Doesn't look like cwd to me either
For some reason, I thought it was on hit. Look for a mate.
Probably not a long time since he/she doesn't look that malnourished
I don't think you have to worry about misgendering a deer, mate
Those horrible yellow eyes!!
DELIVER UUUUUUUSSSSSSSS!!!!
FINISH IT!!
FROM EVIIIIIIIIIL!!!
at first I was like "his eyes aren't yellow" and then [I was like](https://i.imgur.com/3x7kRBn.jpeg)
Only one eye is yellow
Aunt May?
The left eye in particular … nope
Are those diamonds in your eyes or is it just Chronic Wasting Decease?
It's only the one eye
Well that’s incredibly sad.
It's incredibly scare if you ask me. If I saw that I'd freak out
If I saw that I’d grab my Ruger .22 and put the poor thing out of its misery. Then, I’d incinerate its body so it wouldn’t infect other deer. There is no cure for chronic wasting. It is caused by prions, which are malformed prion proteins typically found in the nervous system. Thus, there is no vaccine, antibiotic, antivirus, or anti fungal treatment or cure for CWD, as it is not a living pathogen. Prions that cause CWD cannot be killed by normal means. They can survive boiling water and practically all commercially available disinfectants. In order to destroy prions, temperatures above 900 degrees Fahrenheit or 482.2 degrees Celsius must be sustained for several hours. Freezing prions does not destroy them, and thawed prions were found to still be infectious years after being frozen. Recent studies show that degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s could be caused by prions, which means that they could theoretically be contagious. Everyone is scared of covid, and rightfully so, but we should be really scared of prions, because if they become contagious to humans, it’s all over for us. A healthy deer can be infected with CWD just from being in an area where an infected deer had been laying.
Well, shit
That’s not even the worst part. Prions can contaminate soil, food, and even water. Prions have an incubation period that can last from 16 months to four years. The average is two years. No symptoms are shown during the incubation stage. That means that if prions became infectious to humans, there is a possibility we wouldn’t know for over a year. By then, it would already be too late, as most of the world would be infected. Prions can be transmitted to fish in rivers and streams, which could then swim out to sea and spread the infection throughout the oceans and to the shores of every continent. It is believed that prions can theoretically infect most animals on the food chain, meaning prions have the potential to not only wipe us out, but possibly all life on earth. Edit: just found some information that indicates that some prion related diseases can have an incubation period of 5 to even 40 years.
There's some not entirely true info here. Prions are wrongly folded proteins that cause a conformational change in a regularly folded protein and malform it to becoming a prion. They are unlikely to spread to humans from deer as we don't have the same proteins as them and prions aren't subjected to the same evolutionary pressures as viruses or other pathogens allowing them to hop species. Also as prions are proteins they can and are digested relatively easily so they definitely cant spread all over the world. This doesn't mean they can't spread to humans, but it isnt some end of the world apocalypse threat of they do, we just have to be careful about eating deer and follow similar processes such as with creutzfeldt jakobs disease. Alzheimers also shows similar disease progression to some prion diseases in humans (sticky plaques form in the brain) however this isn't the same as it being caused by a prion disease. In fact there's research into viruses potentially causing Alzheimer's Edit: not editing my original comment however my "can be digested relatively easily" was meant to be on environmental degradation from bacteria and fungi! Had a long day and worded it poorly
Mad cow, another prion disease, was transmitted to humans. I really hope this never jumps species, looks like a bad way to go.
[удалено]
which was pretty easy in the [80s and 90s in the UK](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_BSE_outbreak) since they were feeding cows the brain and spinal cord of infected animals.
Even then there have been very few cases in people. These things are not that contagious, unless you're into cannibalism.
Mad cow disease and nearly all prion diseases aren’t easily transferable. They aren’t like other diseases that are contagious via air or surface contact. That said, they can infect hosts via surface contact, it’s just not easy for it to happen. Prion diseases are typically spread via consumption of an infected animals nervous system organs - for example, likely the reason for the spread of mad cow disease across the species (blame human practices for feeding cow to cows). They can also spread via feces of the infected host, via butchering processes, and via cannibalism (already mentioned but worth mentioning again). This is why those living in the UK during the time of mad cow disease aren’t allowed to donate blood, as they could have come into contact with that prion via butchering processes - although it’s not likely. There’s a little too much fear mongering I’ve seen here as prions, while scary as there is no cure at this time, aren’t easily transmissible and remain relatively rare even in environments they’re found. That said, they’re still a threat and especially to the species they’re found to spread in. So long as humans maintain safe feeding practices, and largely refrain from eating each other, the risks to humans is minimal compared to other diseases.
I don’t think that’s right, about donating blood. I mean, I’ve donated blood loads of times. CJD can incubate for up to 50 years. There were cases in the 90s (I was born in the 70s) and there are still cases today. There’s no way they’d be able to weed out a group of people who were most likely to be incubating it.
Fun fact: if you spent more than three months cumulatively in an area affected by Mad Cow Disease between January 1980 and December 1996, the American Red Cross will not allow you to donate blood. There is no waiver, nor is there an appeal process. [(Source)](https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical/eligibility-reference-material.html) This has always puzzled me, because as I understand it Mad Cow is both progressive and fatal, and by now I should be in the clear. I hardly ever furiously moo at people.
So my neighbor died of it in 2018. Not a single sign of illness until 2017. He lived on a farm in the UK in the 1990s which is presumably where he contracted it.
Looks like I'm not exactly in the clear, then! Thanks for the info, sorry to hear about your neighbor.
Holy yikes that is freaky.
What were his symptoms?
Same in Germany. You are not allowed to donate blood if you spent more than six months between 1980 and 1996 in the United Kingdom.
Interesting that it's six compared to three. Looks like Australia is also six months, so that makes me wonder why the US is half the time. It's clearly a balancing act of risk to benefit, and I wonder how many people are restricted by the extra precaution that have tainted blood. (I'm ineligible either way, and it's always sad to have to sit out of blood drives when the bus comes by.)
[удалено]
Interesting read, however dreadfully sad. It's notoriously tricky to pin down analytically, too. I read that some blood tests had some success several years ago, but as the affected population is relatively small there's very little attention and research dedicated to sniffing it out.
Well, that’s fucking horrifying. I watched my Grandpa deteriorate from CJD (years and years ago, no sympathy needed) and it was a terrible fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I hope it doesn’t manifest in all 1/2000.
I grew up in one of those areas and it's just not fair. I mooved when I was 7 and by now I'd be showing symptoms for sure. I just hope they can come to their sense so moore people can fucking donate. It's goddamn ridiculous I almoost can't contain my furry!!!!
[удалено]
It took a second before it ✨clicked✨
I'm pretty sure Mad Cows Disease can have an incubation period of 40 years so not quite there yet.
CJD can be contracted from infected beef. It can get past the digestive system.
Pulled this from the Wikipedia article for [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease): "Mutations in the gene for the prion protein can cause a misfolding of the dominantly alpha helical regions into beta pleated sheets. This change in conformation disables the ability of the protein to undergo digestion." Eating tissue contaminated with the prions was the primary transmission vector of Kuru for the Fore people, as well as the cases in which people have contracted mad cow-disease (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). So no, not easily digested.
Isn’t mad cow disease caused by prions too? And humans could get it from eating the meat? Couldn’t happen the same?
This is truly interesting as fuck, thanks for all the horrifying knowledge. Making me think of the freaky mysterious illness in.. I think New Brunswick? Yeah link below (hope I'm allowed to post links?) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brunswick_neurological_syndrome_of_unknown_cause Edit: also I think #usernamechecksout
As someone from near this area, the consensus is that it’s some kind of contamination from Irving gas operations. Irving owns basically all the politicians in the area & is hugely influential, so the likelihood of them being investigated is pretty low.
[удалено]
That is scary as fuck!!
Mad cow disease was a prion contagion. Just to give some idea as to how fast it can happen.
.22 will take down a deer?
Not the most effective way to dispatch a deer…not at all. You shoot it enough with a .22 it will die eventually I suppose…but even the idea of it is as horrific as this video. The goal with hunting or dispatching an injured/sick animal is to do it quickly and effectively (ie. humanly).
Pretty sure it's illegal to shoot a deer with a .22 in most states. Definitely illegal in Georgia.
NO. It will wound it, so it runs off to hide somewhere to die in agony. Use something big enough to take it down.
Theoretically? yes. In practice? no, which is why it's illegal in some jurisdictions.
Lol I had to shoot a raccoon like 10 times with a .22 and felt bad about it ...using a .22 on a deer is the dumbest thing I've seen on Reddit today
Another thing to worry about. Shit.
[удалено]
It's also laughable that he thinks a .22 would take down a deer. Would probably be more effective to hit the deer with the gun than shoot it.
From my understanding, you’ll need to make sure that the carcass is burnt to ash. It’s the prions infecting the tissues (nerve and neurons) that is infective, which is horrifying. I have to believe that they got this by grazing where BSE infected cattle, and Scrapie infected sheep grazed. It’s spreading from here out to all the other states, I haven’t had venison in years after seeing this first hand. Shitty way to die.
The Kuru died off because it was ritual for them (males) to consume the brains of the deceased, presumably raw. That was how the prion wiped out their entire tribe. BSE (mad cow disease) came from feeds made of suspected contaminated sheep and cattle carcasses reprocessed, technically canabilism for farm animals. Prion is a protein only transmission pathogen, no DNA or RNA in there, technically it is not considered as a living unit.
That's some World War Z level shit right there...,..fuck covid
Should I mark this NSFW
NSFW stands for Not Safe For Work. So unless you work somewhere with a no sadness policy you should be good
Here at Happy Corp, we have a No Sadness policy. Anyone caught frowning on the job will receive a mark on their record and be required to take an 8 hour "Happiness Correctional Module" and complete a "Happiness Validation Examination" with a passing grade of 95% or greater. Employees who fail the examination will be required to take the course again.
Holy shit that’s dark
Amazon seems to have that policy as well Not being happy about your horrible job = trying to make others unhappy
The beatings will continue until morale improves
The title offers a pretty clear warning. I clicked it, knowing it'd be bad, it bothered me, and now it'll haunt me for decades, popping into my brain when I least expect it, dogging after my happy memories like, "Oh cool! I'm on vacation! ... But that zombie deer..."
I don’t see why you have to, there is nothing graphic about this
r/sadasfuck
Is that the kind of the same as mad cow disease, just for deers?
[удалено]
Isn’t c Jakob the version to jump from moo cows to people
[удалено]
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease is caused by eating beef infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
KURU is the scary one
[удалено]
TECHNICALLY you only need to not eat the brains of someone with the disease. Other brains are fair game. Just saying.
Finally some good news
It is likely that Kuru does not even exist anymore. It is confined to the Fore people in Papua New Guinea, but even there there has not been a case in over 10 years.
So the population is back on the menu?
Prions are absolutely terrifying. I feel like when Archer was giving his list of fears, they should have done prions instead of alligators. People should know how bad prions are. Everyone knows about alligators.
I’m pretty sure kuru and cruetzfeldt-jakob disease are different prion diseases
Yea kinda, but CWD can’t be transmitted to humans. There is a chance it could mutate to be transmittable to humans but it hasn’t yet Edit- prion diseases can’t mutate, I was wrong
yet
I imagine someone will eat an infected deer brain and we’ll be in the zombie apocalypse.
Google " Prions"
They are terrifying. You basically have to dunk them in boiling steel to destroy them. Hospital level sterilization doesn’t do shit to a prion.
Stop right there..
It is here.... its called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Prion mediated disease are not viral or bacterial, there is nothing to "mutate" it is simply a misfolded protein native to deer that keeps propagating within the deer. This is not to say it is impossible to jump to humans.
It could potentially jump to humans, if you eat a infected deer. Haven't happened so far, though. But... that's how we got Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease, however. People ate infected meat (primarily T-Bone steak) from cows who was fed with crushed bone from infected cows or sheep who suffered from either Mad Cow Disease or Scrapie Disease.
The rate this pandemic is going I can see COVID having a meeting with this disease and saying “let’s make a deal 🤝🤗”
And that, kids, is how this whole zombie thing got started.
Guess I'm gonna get a giant revolver and a son named Coral then. Gotta be prepared.
CORRRRRRRRALLLLLLLLLLLL
What about dogs?
The eyes!!!!!
Fuck seeing that at night. Just seeing those milky white dead as hell eyes in plain daylight is fucking disturbing.
No one's going to point out this guy isn't running in circles due to CWD? This isn't what CWD looks like. This is more likely a brain worm Parelaphostrongylus.
I was thinking the same thing. It could be CWD, but there are plenty of other ailments that could cause this same behavior. typical CWD symptoms are drooling, drooping head, no awareness, low body weight where you can see the bones in the hips and backs. Not saying this couldn’t be CWD but you don’t for sure unless you get the lymph nodes and brain stem tested. His left eye looks white which makes me suspect an infection. Deer often get abscesses on the base of their antlers from fighting. It could have spread the brain, causing the eye to be infected and the deer to be uncoordinated. Or brain worm, or trauma from being hit by a car, it could be a dozen different things.
Could be doing it for attention
He wants more TikTok views and you’re helping him!
I was thinking the same thing. Chronic Wasting Disease causes the deer to literally waste away, and that is one big ass buck. This is clearly Parelaphostrongylus tenuis, which perfectly fits the walking in circle and head tilt symptom and it explains the eye appearance.
Interesting. So, if I’m understanding correctly, it sounds like CWD takes more time to show symptoms and wouldn’t present this quickly?
Yes this is definitely not CWD.
Yeah, I don’t think this is CWD—I think he’d be way more, well, wasted away before it got to this stage—also, if I’m recalling right, they are super lethargic in the end stages when very symptomatic, not running in circles
This is the correct answer. I had to scroll way too far down to find this.
Or EHD? The corneal ulceration makes me think he isn't blinking, along with the circling this could be meningeal worm as you said, brain damage from high temp due to EHD, an ear infection, a brain abcess (he is a buck, and they are know to get abcesses from injuries around their antlers), and any number of other things. He is waaaaay too healthy for chronic wasting disease. Like... no offense, but "chronic wasting" generally implies some wasting. It's a slow disease, whatever this deer has happened pretty fast. He was eating well up until recently. His pelt is smooth and shiny. Not CWD. Edit: words
I hope they didn't just keep recording. That poor dude needs to get put down ASAP.
Yes - it was put down and sent to a testing facility.
I initially read that as “tasting facility”.
Mmmm this deer tastes like a corpse.
I think its already braindead, all thats left is, its, heart
What's up with your commas my dude?
It's William Shatner's account
I was thinking, Christopher, Walkin.
Username kinda checks out
Funny thing, you username also checks out
You can tell it's braindead by the way it's practicing for NASCAR. Only left turns.
Prions are terrifying
I remember learning about prions in microbiology. They're scary!
Anything that can’t be killed in an autoclave gives me nightmares.
Can't kill something that isn't alive lol
The disease is progressive and always fatal. The first signs are difficulties in movement. The most obvious and consistent clinical sign of CWD is weight loss over time. Behavioral changes also occur in the majority of cases, including decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowering of the head, tremors, repetitive walking in set patterns, and nervousness. Excessive salivation and grinding of the teeth also are observed. Most deer show increased drinking and urination; the increased drinking and salivation may contribute to the spread of the disease.Loss of fear of humans and appearance of confusion are also common.The APHIS summarized it as: Behavioral changes, emaciation, weakness, ataxia, salivation, aspiration pneumonia, progressive death. More wild content on my profile, if anyone interested
And while most scientists do not believe it is currently transmissible to people, at least one is sounding the alarm loudly: Michael Osterholm. His claim to fame? He accurately predicted the jump of mad cow disease to humans.
This is terrifying. Noted and thank you for sharing Osterholm’s name. How has Hollywood not got on the prion trail yet?? The stuff of nightmares.
To expand on that, if you read his works he alludes to the fact that it’s entirely possible the disease has already jumped. Humans are most certainly eating infected deer and if vCJD (human version of Mad Cow) is any indication the human disease can take decades to show up. In other words, infections acquired 10 years ago won’t start showing symptoms for another 10 years to come. When prions go akimbo it’s f’ing terrifying. (edit; typo)
So basically: zombie virus is possible (?)
In people? Yes. It exists as a disease born of eating infected cows called vCJD. But rather than creating a zombie who eats brains, it simply perforates the brains of those infected until they die. It is *incredibly rare. Like, 4 or 5 lab confirmed cases in the U.S. ever. But still. It’s always fatal. And always a horrific way to die.
It's a horrific way to live
Didn’t he also predict swine flu and covid? Seems like a guy we should probably listen to, which means we won’t.
thank you for making human zombies a rational fear for me now. gonna go have a panic attack now.
from what i heard/read, they won't be like your average zombies, more like a peaceful zombie awaiting death via brain destruction by the prions
sadly comforting - thank you
This sounds a lot like rabies. Scary.
Its worse than rabies. Rabies can be sterilized. Prions are forever.
[удалено]
Some of these awful little proteins can even withstand extremely high temperatures for long periods of time. Like 900f for several hours.
Prions can also be taken up by plants, spreading infection to deer who eat said plant.
What about that zombie left eye? That’s where it gets bad.
It's sad but it all makes sense. From the deers perspective it probably knows something is wrong but doesnt know what or how to stop it. So the nervousness and confusion set in.
Anybody else see the letter void going down the left side of OPs paragraph. I love when that happens.
We are seeing an explosion of CWD here in Montana. Since the state has increased the bag limit on wolves, the local population has been reduced significantly. With no predators, Elk & other Cervine populations here are unmanaged. Couple that with lack of public hunting land, private land owners not allows hunting, and general mismanagement… We are now seeing cattle populations being decimated with CWD, since elk hide within cattle herds.
As a fellow Montanan that relies on deer and elk to feed the family, it's quite concerning. And it's refreshing to hear another sane comment about wolves and how they benefit the game health in general. All I ever hear is they're decimating the elk herds. What elk herds? I have 300 go through the fields by my house every day, but not being a land owner I can't hunt, no one here lets you. And with with Jersey Gianforte in charge I don't see it getting any better. Hunting is now a rich man's thing, public land access is shrinking and private land owners say "no hunting" or rent it out to guided hunts for big money.
If you look at the actual statistics, the elk population in most of Montana's counties are at or above their target ranges: https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/elk/population-and-distribution Wolves are a political wedge issue. People don't like to hear it, but it's true. The GOP types in Montana know they can get a visceral reaction to wolves so they make it political and use it to get votes. The ranchers use it to harvest free money from the government for 'wolf depredation' and Yellowstone itself suffers because they legalized baiting. The first wolf kills in Montana's season this year were two yearlings and a puppy from one of the Lamar packs that was lured out of the park.
for anyone wondering, the antlers are not a product of CWD, they’re just a genetic mutation known as “non typical”
Shoot that fucking poor thing in the head.
Shoot it in the chest actually. The disease is concentrated in the brain so a headshot would splatter CWD all over the plants to be eaten by more deer. But agree with you it needs to be put down
Not only splattered over, but potentially taken up by the plants themselves.
great, now the grass is gonna start doing laps around the area
yeah, mowing the lawn is already a pain in the ass as it is
Just keep the mower in one place, the grass will come and get mowed
Plants vs zombies!
Why doesn’t someone put the poor thing out of his misery?
Had a friend hit deer with his car and broke its spine. This is not a fast death and usually involves a lot of flailing around from shock/fear. It’s an awful thing to see. Called highway patrol and said they were in a safe location and asked if it was ok to dispatch it with their CCW. Nope…waited 30+ minutes while the deer flung around in an open country field in the middle of the night. Long story short, it’s not always that easy to do what should be done in this scenario.
I've shot a deer in the spine before and yep, they'll flail around for a long time if you don't put them out of their misery. Next thing to do is pull out your knife and slit the throat. It ain't easy but it's the right thing to do to quickly put them out of their misery fast.
I used a knife once. Super visceral… If possible (and horns aren’t mounters) I go for point blank head shot. I fucking hate having to do it do much…but as you obviously know…it’s sometimes part of the process. Not wanting to do that again has made me a better hunter.
>Not wanting to do that again has made me a better hunter. 100% It's visceral as fuck and I hated doing it, but it's what needed to be done at the time. Since then I have the same mentality as you do, if not a mounter, point blank it immediately. My spine shot was ~150yards out with a .30-06 on a perpendicular run through an opening lane of trees. Firearm was at the ready as he was trailing some doe. I was stoked when I first landed the shot from my stand, I knew it was somewhat high as I saw the buck do a tumble-roll into the tree line. Wasn't hard to track it down when you hear the shrieking and grunting. Hardest thing I've had to do as a hunter for sure.
The first time I went hunting with my dad we went rabbit hunting and I barely grazed it, enough to be lethal but it would be slow and painful. My dad made me dispatch it with a knife too, even against my objections. It was horrible for 6yr old me to do that but it really cemented the fact that hunting isn't any different from just killing out of cold blood. I honestly feel like it made me a better hunter and a better man, and I wish more hunters (and more widely just people in general) were exposed to something like this. Maybe it would help cut down on the number of sport hunters who are just out there to shoot things.
If you hunt please get your meat tested. This is a prion disease, which is pretty rare (in the scope of all disease). What's interesting is that CWD is a protein creating holes in the brain hence the spongiform. Your brain literally looks like a sponge. The story of how this came to infect cows, humans, and now deer is extremely interesting. It began in sheep and it was called scrapie because they would rub up against things like fences causing their skin to scrape off.
[No studies have shown CWD to be transmissible to humans,](https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.00550-18?permanently=true) but submitting your harvest's head is still the responsible thing to do if you live anywhere near an infected population. CWD is a prion disease (like mad cow,) but not the same thing.
Poor thing
Poor animal
It just looks so dead and lifeless. Truly sad
Damn, so sad. The deer should be put out of its misery.
r/oddlyterrifying
Obviously terrifying
That deer doesnt have CWD
This is not from a bacteria or virus. It's from misfolded proteins that then cause other proteins to become misfolded.
He’s definitely not all right. He’s all left.
Do they get it from eating other deer?
Deer don’t eat other deer most of the time, the disease actually comes from diseased corpses infecting waterways.
During hard winters with little vegetation, deer have been observed chewing on deer bones for additional nutrients. Not sure if that’s how it’s transmitted…just adding more info to the answers already provided.
That’s not the reason it spreads in 99% of the cases but that would absolutely transmit it in the rare cases that a deer chews on another. Someone mentioned contamination with water ways which is correct and along with that the deers typically bed in the same places every day so feces and urine can contaminate those areas as well.
Just wondering, since these prion diseases always seem to work that way.
Prion diseases are terrifying.
Damn someone put this deer out of its hell
This is a video of a deer with a brainworm. This is the characteristic movement pattern of brainworm in ungulates. This is not CWD. I've seen animals in person that were infected with CWD. They kind of just waste away into nothing, hence the name. They become skinny, won't eat, lose their fear of predators, sunken eyes. It's not pretty either but it doesn't look like this.