1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,800 There will be no choosing of topics this week because I am choosing Euler's Choice for you this week. 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:13,760 And this one is from the BBC. I learned my lesson on using, I don't know, whatever that other one was. 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:14,320 Are you there? 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,480 Yeah, are you gonna read it? 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,160 Yeah, I'm gonna read it. I just wanted to make sure you're listening to me. 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:24,320 This one is titled, Hold On, Who's It By? I have to give you all the information for it. 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,400 First, by Jennifer Cheesack, 19th of April, 2024. 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,080 Her family had a cheese sack? 9 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:30,480 Yeah. 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:31,040 Huh. 11 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,920 Oh yeah, long cheese sack. Averse. 12 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,520 A zombie deer disease posed risk for humans. 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:38,880 Interesting. 14 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:45,760 Yeah, recent cases of humans contracting sporadic, oh no, I cannot read that word. 15 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:52,880 Something, Jacob Disease, CJD have raised questions about whether a disease carried by deer may be 16 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,560 jumping the species barrier. That's terrifying. 17 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,480 I believe it's Crute's felt, Jacob's disease is the one you're talking about. 18 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:05,120 It's felt. I mean, you say it like that and it sounds easy, but I'm looking at it. 19 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,040 Oh yeah, it looks tougher than that. 20 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:07,760 It's possible. 21 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:13,360 I do for now. I'm looking right next to this article and it's recommending me an article that's a 22 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,760 brief history of panda diplomacy. I really want to click that, but I've got to read. 23 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:21,200 Stay focused, Chelsea. 24 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:26,880 Zombie deer disease is spreading among wildlife. 25 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,520 Scientists haven't reached an agreement on whether the condition, also known as chronic 26 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:37,040 wasting disease, can spread to humans and lead to a form of Crute's felt, Jacob disease. 27 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:37,840 Oh, that was good. 28 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,840 Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is a type of pre-on disease. 29 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,600 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, 30 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,680 it's a neurodivergent condition that infects wildlife, including deer. 31 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:54,240 It has also recently been confirmed in deer, as well as moose in Canada, 32 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:59,200 after previous cases were reported in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. 33 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:04,960 No cases have yet been reported in humans, but a recent medical case report by doctors in Texas, 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:10,800 U.S., on the deaths of two hunters who regularly ate meat from a population of deer infected with 35 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:15,680 CWD, has raised fresh questions about a link with human pre-on disease. 36 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:22,080 Both men died of CJD, but doctors investigating the deaths were unable to prove a definitive link 37 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:28,400 to CWD. It urged for the need for increased surveillance and research to establish whether 38 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:34,320 the disease can cross over into humans. As transmissions in animals increases across North 39 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:39,840 America, Scandinavia, and South Korea, some experts fear the risk of transmission to humans 40 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,960 may also be increasing. It based their concerns on experimental studies, the history of other 41 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:50,480 pre-on diseases transmitting from animals to humans, which is extremely rare, and the potential 42 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:56,080 impacts of climate change. As of yet, there has been no transmission from deer or elk to humans, 43 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:02,080 such Jennifer Mullenax, associated professor of wildlife ecology and management at the University 44 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,040 of Maryland. However, isn't that a bit of a lie? They just haven't confirmed it? I guess so. 45 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:12,080 Because it really sounds like those hunters got it from deer. Yeah, because they exclusively ate 46 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:19,680 deer who were infected by it. However, given the nature, pre-on CDC and other agencies have 47 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,800 supported all efforts to keep any pre-on disease out of the food chain, well, except for deer 48 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:29,680 hunters. This is what we currently know about CWD. What is zombie deer disease and what are the 49 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:36,160 symptoms? Chronic wasting disease is transmitted in cervids, which are hoofed, ruminant mammals, 50 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:41,920 such as deer, reindeer, elk, and moose. Although it is an infectious disease, CWD is not caused by 51 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,960 a bacterium or virus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Planet 52 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:53,040 Health Inspection Service. Instead, a misfolded pre-on protein causes the issue, but researchers 53 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,640 don't yet know what causes the protein to become abnormal. Normal pre-on proteins potentially play 54 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:04,400 a role in cell signaling, but when misfolded, they cause more proteins to misfold. Misfolded 55 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:09,520 pre-on proteins in the brain kill brain cells and cause bodily dysfunction, leading to unusual 56 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:15,600 symptoms. Symptoms include weight loss, excessive drinking, and urination, poor balance and coordination, 57 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,560 drooping ears and difficulty swallowing. The difficulty swallowing can lead to drooling and 58 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,680 eventually pneumonia and death. The classic symptoms and the image of an uncoordinated 59 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:31,120 stumbling and drooling animal have led to the term zombie deer disease. The symptoms can take months 60 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:37,200 or years to manifest, making a visual diagnosis difficult. When pre-on proteins are misfolded, 61 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:43,600 they become infectious, which leads to the spread among wildlife. CWD spreads from animals through 62 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:49,280 direct contact with bodily fluids and waste and through indirect contact with contaminated 63 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:55,120 soil, water, and food. The CDC estimates that in areas where the pre-on disease is endemic, 64 00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:02,080 infection rates range from 10% to 25%. In 2023, surveillance results from the Canadian province 65 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:09,280 of Alberta suggest a 23% positivity rate for mule deer. Current evidence does not show that CWD can 66 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:14,480 be spread to humans when they eat the meat of an infected animal, encounter infected wildlife, 67 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:19,920 or drink or touch contaminated soil or water. But researches continue to investigate whether 68 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,560 animal to human transmission is possible. The current body of research is in mixed bag, 69 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:30,480 meaning we don't yet know. This goes on for quite a long while. So I'm going to end it there, 70 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,760 but the headline caught my eye. I don't know that it's chronic wasting disease has come up on the 71 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,560 podcast before, but I know we've not in a long time. We have talked about it. We have talked about 72 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:46,480 it because there's like the deer act like super bizarre. So then you'll see paranormal stuff 73 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:51,200 come up with them because of the way that they're acting. Yeah, it's something that's terrifying, 74 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:56,000 just in my mind, because like there's nothing we know what to do about it. We can't really tell 75 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,120 you much about it. It's highly scientific. So we can't really even fully explain it that well. 76 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:07,840 And yeah, there's no possible hope for a cure at this point because we have no idea how to stop a 77 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,600 protein from just folding other proteins in a different way, which at the end of the day is 78 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:18,240 what a preon is doing. I don't even really know what that means. So yeah, I know. But anyhow, 79 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:23,360 you guys got 48 hours to come up with the answer and then we'll see you back here. Good luck. Bye. 80 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:30,480 Bye. 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