Mutant deer outbreak grips multiple US states

Photos of deer with tumor-like hair growths are going viral as they are being spotted in several U.S. states, which are commonly caused by an infection with a species-specific papillomavirus.

These viral photos have sparked public concerns, showing signs of a widespread infectious disease.

Several pictures were circulating on social media, and people are continuing to document such cases of strange bubbles growing all over local deer from their faces to legs.

It has been observed that from the past few months, photographs of deformed deer were shared by people in New York, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Natural resource officers have diagnosed a condition known as deer cutaneous fibroma.

The prime reason was due to a virus transmitted among deer in all parts of the US.

Primarily, this virus spreads through insects like mosquitoes, which then transmit the infection from sick deer to healthy animals by carrying infected blood.

These harmful insects multiply more in warmer weather. Americans might see more such cases of the condition wherever deers live.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said, "Papillomas are most frequently seen during the late summer and fall, probably due to increased biting insect activity during this time of year.”

Moreover, Americans have been experiencing more mutated rabbits and squirrels, specifically they have been proliferating their own species-specific viruses in the US. 

This serious condition spreading through deer showed that some broad family of viruses that can affect humans, known as papillomaviruses, particularly targets the skin and mucous membranes.

Deer warts are found across the entire range in North America.

Dr Omer Awan of the University of Maryland School of Medicine shed light on the current situation that climate change has allowed mosquitoes to live longer and spread to areas that were normally inhabited.

“These temperature changes can lead to various diseases that were never endemic in certain areas to become endemic,” Dr Awan added.

The studies suggest that papillomaviruses have been potentially affecting wildlife in the US from the 1950s.

In recent times, climate change is helping the virus to spread, and subsequently the role of social media is contributing to the increase in deer wart sightings.

“People are talking about it and starting to document it more on social media, and hence there’s been a lot more discussion about this,” Dr Awan further added.