AUSTIN – A five-and-a-half-year-old, white-tailed deer has tested positive for ‘zombie deer’ disease, or Chronic Wasting Disease, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife officials.
Officials say the deer is being held at a deer breeding facility in Kimble County, just Northwest of San Antonio, and is the first positive case of the disease that has been detected since 2011.
The disease is described by Texas wildlife officials as a “progressive, fatal neurological disease” that affects the animal’s brain; however, the deer can have the disease for years without it being detected, per TPW staff.
Symptoms of the ‘zombie deer’ disease include listlessness, lowering of the head, weight loss, repetitive walking in set patterns and a lack of responsiveness, according to officials.
488-pound feral hog killed in Texas by wildlife removal expertsDeer are still being held at the Kimble County breeding facility and more investigations into the disease will be conducted, according to wildlife officials.