Two hunters may have become the first Americans to die from a “zombie deer” disease, according to a recent study published in the journal Neurology, the Daily Mail reported.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a nearly 100 percent fatal ailment known to affect deer, elk, and other cervids, has long raised concerns about its potential transmission to humans. The study suggests that two individuals who died in 2022 after consuming contaminated venison may have succumbed to the disease.

The report outlines the case of a 72-year-old man who exhibited symptoms including “rapid-onset confusion and aggression,” along with seizures, before his death within a month. Posthumous diagnosis revealed Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a brain-wasting condition likened to Mad Cow Disease, as the cause. The man’s hunting companion also perished from the illness, though details regarding his condition remain scant.

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