The CDC has been warning that humans will be zombies.. what if bears are first!?

Imagine a world wear bears lose their fear of humans.. We certainly would be more afraid of them than we already are!

That world is happening in the Western part of the United States..

California has warned people about a disease popping up in the bear population of the state.

Scientists have discovered five new viruses in some of the bears with the symptoms, but they have no idea whether the viruses are to blame for the disease.

This is what the California Fish and Wildlife office wrote,

A young black bear displaying neurological abnormalities, including a prominent head tilt, undergoes a CT scan at UC Davis in 2019. The bear became something of a social media sensation for approaching people at the Northstar ski resort before being treated by CDFW and placed with a wildife facility in San Diego, where the bear has required ongoing veterinary care. CDFW photo by Kirsten Macintyre.

The reports out of Pollock Pines, El Dorado County, last month sounded eerily familiar.

A small, black bear showed up at a utility worksite. It was alone and possibly sick – lethargic and showing little fear of people. The bear was largely unfazed by attempts to shoo it away by yelling and clapping.

Subsequent calls to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reported the bear had moved into a residential backyard, once again acting lethargic – certainly underweight, perhaps dehydrated – and showing no fear of people. Contrary to CDFW guidance, residents began feeding the seemingly friendly little bear, admitting they had become attached to it. They supplied it with water, apples and strawberries. At one point, the bear jumped into a housekeeper’s open car trunk, prompting attempts to approach it and pet it.

When a CDFW wildlife biologist and warden went to investigate, they encountered a situation becoming more common in the Tahoe Basin and elsewhere around the state. They found a bear too young to be out on its own, “dog-like” in its behavior, completely comfortable around people, picking up an apple to eat in front of them on the backyard patio. Physically and mentally, the bear just didn’t seem quite right, walking oddly, dull and not responsive like a normal bear should be.

The bear was taken to CDFW’s Wildlife Investigations Laboratory (WIL) in Rancho Cordova for observation and evaluation by veterinarians. Covered in ticks, the yearling female was undersized and underweight for its age at a mere 21 pounds. A similarly aged bear should weigh closer to 80 pounds. Under observation in captivity, the bear displayed intermittent head tremors and a subtle head tilt, troubling signs of neurological abnormalities.

A week of observation and testing confirmed neurologic and behavioral deficits and the bear was euthanized. A post-mortem examination is underway. Preliminary findings have confirmed encephalitis or inflammation of the brain, which would make it the third bear with neurological disorders due to encephalitis to pass through CDFW’s WIL within the past 12 months. A fourth bear showing signs of neurological abnormalities, this one from Humboldt County, has since been euthanized and encephalitis confirmed in that case as well.

The CDC has been offering its latest round of advice if you encounter the zombie apocalypse..  That has been the agency's method of using comedy and irony in news releases to help Americans prepare fore real disasters. Although many take the CDC's word for it annually and lose the humor.. They don't get the sarcasm.

This bear story however creates a new facet of 'zombie'ism.. 

The Sacramento BEE further reports.

The bears with the inflamed brains have been found on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and as far away as Humboldt County.

The new viruses in some of the affected bears don’t appear to pose a risk to people, said Jamie Sherman, a veterinarian at UC Davis’ One Health Institute who’s studied bear diseases.

So far, whatever is sickening these bears also seems to have had little effect on California’s growing black bear population which in 1982 was estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 bears, and is now conservatively estimated to be between 30,000 and 40,000 animals.

DEVELOPING..