Florida Finds a New 'Zombie Deer'

Florida wildlife officials have confirmed a second case of chronic wasting disease—often called "zombie deer disease"—just weeks before the start of hunting season. The discovery was made during routine screening of a road-killed young white-tailed doe in Holmes County, near the Alabama border, in the same week Georgia announced a CWD case just five miles north of the Florida border, per the Guardian and Tallahassee Democrat. The only other recorded case in Florida was a 4-year-old doe found about a mile away in June 2023. State officials have responded by establishing an emergency management zone and ramping up surveillance, with test results pending on 90 additional animals.

Chronic wasting disease is a highly contagious, fatal neurological disorder in deer and other cervids. It has no known cure or vaccine and can spread through direct animal contact, environmental contamination, and ticks. First detected in Colorado in 1967, it's now been found in wild deer in at least 36 states and four Canadian provinces, according to the USGS. Infected deer can live for years without symptoms, but ultimately suffer brain damage, weight loss, behavioral changes, and death. Officials stress that early detection gives Florida a better chance at containment, but acknowledge that efforts to eradicate the disease elsewhere have failed. Steven Shea, a wildlife biologist, calls CWD "probably the greatest threat to deer and deer hunting in North America."

Florida's white-tailed deer population is estimated at up to 700,000, with about 100,000 hunted annually—making deer the state's most popular game animal. New rules in the affected zone require hunters to check all deer carcasses for CWD. While the disease is not considered a threat to humans, meat from a deer that has tested positive for CWD is tossed as a precaution. Wildlife managers fear CWD could lead to fewer hunters, which in turn could impact deer population control, increase vehicle collisions, damage crops, and reduce funding for broader wildlife programs.