CDC UPDATE: 

Deer Meat Didn't Cause Hunters' Deaths

Story by Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Concerns about chronic wasting disease have heightened after a case report surfaced of two hunters who developed neurological disorders and died after eating venison from a population of deer that may have been infected with "zombie deer disease."

The report of the two hunters who died in 2022, presented in early April at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, did not prove the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from deer to humans, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio researchers wrote.

However, the researchers wrote, the case "emphasizes the need for further investigation into the potential risks of consuming CWD-infected deer and its implications for public health."

There have been no cases of CWD in people reported to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But past studies raised concerns that CWD could "pose a risk to people," the CDC has said, suggesting "it is important to prevent human exposures to CWD."

Here's what to know about the hunters' deaths and the CDC's response to the report.

CDC: Deer meat did not lead to hunters' illnesses, death

About the 2022 report, the agency agreed with the researchers "that there is a need for careful investigation of chronic wasting disease (CWD) as a potential risk to people's’ health," CDC epidemiologist Ryan Maddox said in a statement to USA TODAY.

But the CDC reviewed the 2022 cases and considered the two men's deaths as "part of the normal number of cases of CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) we see in the U.S.," he said.

The men died after developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which like CWD is a prion disease, a class of fatal neurological disorders, which can affect humans and animals, and usually progress rapidly and are always fatal. In prion diseases, certain proteins in the brain begin to fold abnormally, causing brain damage and other symptoms, the CDC says.

"A history of hunting and/or eating venison does not mean that someone got CJD that way," Maddox said. "Many Americans hunt and even more eat venison. Some will develop sporadic CJD by chance and others will not."