Scientists fear a fatal "zombie deer disease" could be evolving to infect humans.

Chronic wasting disease — found in Minnesota deer herds — is a contagious neurological condition that wipes out nearly every animal it infects, and is spreading rapidly in deer populations across the country, The Daily Mail reported.

The disease is caused by misfolded proteins — when proteins do not fold into the correct shape — called prions. After infection, prions travel throughout the central nervous system.

Researchers believe humans may contract the disease from eating infected venison, or via contact with contaminated soil and water, The Daily Mail reported. It can take more than a year for an infected animal to develop symptoms, the outlet noted.

Its nickname came about because the disease causes parts of the brain to slowly degenerate to a spongy consistency — resulting in infected animals drooling and staring blankly before they die.

There are no treatments or vaccines. And because the disease is so contagious, if one animal tests positive, the entire herd is considered infected.

The condition is thought to only infect animals like deer, elk, reindeer, caribou, and moose.

According to the outlet, a group of 68 researchers from around the world last year started looking at what would happen if a human spillover did occur.

Michael Osterholm, an expert in infectious disease at the University of Minnesota and a leading authority on chronic wasting disease, told KFF Health News that "the bottom-line message is, we are quite unprepared."

"If we saw a spillover right now, we would be in free fall," he said. "There are no contingency plans for what to do or how to follow up."

The team is preparing for a potential outbreak, examining lab capacity, diagnostics, surveillance, and education and outreach.

Reports indicate that between 7,000 to 15,000 infected animals were eaten in 2017, and the number is predicted to increase 20% yearly.

Peter Larsen, an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota and co-director of the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, said there's a push to get ahead of a possible spillover to humans.

"Our mission is to learn everything we can about not just CWD but other prion-like diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease," he told KFF Health News.

Part of that mission is new technology to make testing faster and easier.

"With all the doom and gloom around CWD, we have real solutions that can help us fight this disease in new ways," said Larsen. "There's some optimism."

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