Does Your DEER Meat Have "ZOMBIE" CWD !!??

[shooterdon]

Our state wildlife departments really screwed up by allowing baiting of deer, in my opinion. Deer are wild animals, not our pets to feed. Allowing hunters to bait deer, with commercially produced products that may contain infected animal protein, is just stupid, not to mention unsportsmanlike. Having wild deer congregate at a feeding site is un-natural, and greatly increases the odds of deer passing disease to each other, or to be infected by contaminated feed. We should demand that all baiting of wild deer be banned. It’s unhealthy for the herd.

I felt the same way about baiting until recently. Baiting allows poor hunters to harvest deer that need to be thinned out. So far this winter, found 6 dead deer. We have over 24" of snow on the ground in most places right now. Deer are having a tough time. I know guys feeding them so the deer will have a better chance of surviving. They are not hunting or poaching...just trying to help them out even though it is illegal to do so.

I have never heard of the feed being infected and wonder how that happens.

I put food plots in. I suppose that is unsportsmanlike as well. Plan on planting some apple tress this year too. I suppose I should be tried for Bambi murder. Still believe it is better to harvest deer than see them starve. Some people are not good hunters or unable to hunt.

I have a neighbor who cannot walk more than 1/2 a mile and hunts on his 5 acres. He has no running water and is over 70 years old. Needs the meat and shoots his deer out of his one room 16x16 cabin window. Cannot fault him much for doing what he has to do. I would turn a blind eye even if he decided to poach but he has not so far. He has no car either and lives alone. It is not always black and white.

 

[Thomas]

I felt the same way about baiting until recently. Baiting allows poor hunters to harvest deer that need to be thinned out. So far this winter, found 6 dead deer. We have over 24" of snow on the ground in most places right now. Deer are having a tough time. I know guys feeding them so the deer will have a better chance of surviving. They are not hunting or poaching...just trying to help them out even though it is illegal to do so.

I have never heard of the feed being infected and wonder how that happens.

I put food plots in. I suppose that is unsportsmanlike as well. Plan on planting some apple tress this year too. I suppose I should be tried for Bambi murder. Still believe it is better to harvest deer than see them starve. Some people are not good hunters or unable to hunt.

I have a neighbor who cannot walk more than 1/2 a mile and hunts on his 5 acres. He has no running water and is over 70 years old. Needs the meat and shoots his deer out of his one room 16x16 cabin window. Cannot fault him much for doing what he has to do. I would turn a blind eye even if he decided to poach but he has not so far. He has no car either and lives alone. It is not always black and white.

…………………………….
:thumbsup:

 

[teejk]

Mad cow is generally transferred to humans through meat that has been tainted with brain matter or the spinal cord. This is also how CWD could potentially be transferred although it has never happened (as far as we know)

Time will tell if consuming meat that has zero central nervous system tissue contamination is safe. Since Great Britain changed their meat handling practices the disease is almost non-existent

Good article on it here
Mad Cow Disease Fast Facts - CNN

The first reports of CWD in Wisconsin involved a few counties where several landowners formed an alliance to create a "trophy" zone comprising thousands of acres. Was suspicion (never proven) at the time that they were using a protein supplement to promote antler growth that might have contained sheep bones/spinal cords. Since then the disease has found its way into several other counties. There are clear relationships to game farms with penned deer...e.g. concentrated populations that feed in concentrated areas (hence the bans on feeding in several counties and strict requirements on fencing). Truth of the matter IMHO? Our deer harvest is 300,000+ annually. A lot of people have been eating venison for years with no apparent health concerns (although there were 2 people that apparently died several years ago from what might have been related).

 

[Motorboatin]

A lot of people have been eating venison for years with no apparent health concerns (although there were 2 people that apparently died several years ago from what might have been related).

I usually drop my Deer off for processing and since the CWD scare I have had them bone it out instead of getting traditional cuts

And I stopped eating the brain :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

We are currently participating in a CWD white tail deer study in cooperation with the Michigan DNR and Michigan State University. As a cooperative land owner we are allowing deer to be trapped, blood samples drawn and tagged with tracking collars allowing the resurchers to monitor the herd movement. The study is just getting underway and the goal is to monitor the spread of the disease and potentially figure out how to curb it痴 continual growth.
Every morning we have a cadry of students show up checking traps and putting out corn and on two occasions thus far have hit pay dirt and tagged two animals one of which showed up about a mile away on a neighbor痴 game camera.
Very interesting to rub shoulders with young people interested in game management.

B. John

Good for you on the participation. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[teejk]

I usually drop my Deer off for processing and since the CWD scare I have had them bone it out instead of getting traditional cuts

And I stopped eating the brain :thumbsup:

Boneless venison has been the rule around here for decades even before CWD (no saw required). I've read that if you are worried you should also forego the liver and heart.

 

[tjkubota93]

The twra has been testing them. You are supposed to de bone any deer and wait for test results. Not allowed to transport the rest of the animal out of the county.

 

[teejk]

The twra has been testing them. You are supposed to de bone any deer and wait for test results. Not allowed to transport the rest of the animal out of the county.

Our DNR thinks the carcass is part of the problem also. They tried that prohibition last season but it didn't play well so the rule was suspended. Deer hunting is big business in Wisconsin and also big tradition with long established "camps" where people come from miles away to play cards and "socialize" with old friends every year. A few of them actually go out in the woods and shoot a deer that they take home to be processed. I think what will happen here is the DNR will supply dumpsters throughout the state for the bones.

 

[FTG-05]

The twra has been testing them. You are supposed to de bone any deer and wait for test results. Not allowed to transport the rest of the animal out of the county.

Note that this is just in three counties in TN where CWD has been confirmed found, not the whole state: Carcass Importation Restrictions

Note that they have also banned supplemental feeding (i.e. baiting) within the CWD zone (Fayette, Hardiman and McNairy counties).

 

[dmccarty]

Our DNR thinks the carcass is part of the problem also. They tried that prohibition last season but it didn't play well so the rule was suspended. Deer hunting is big business in Wisconsin and also big tradition with long established "camps" where people come from miles away to play cards and "socialize" with old friends every year. A few of them actually go out in the woods and shoot a deer that they take home to be processed. I think what will happen here is the DNR will supply dumpsters throughout the state for the bones.

How would the carcass be a problem? Never heard, or should I say, herd, of a deer eating dead dear. Is DNR going to go pick up all of the dead deer hit by vehicles?

Later,
Dan

 

[teejk]

How would the carcass be a problem? Never heard, or should I say, herd, of a deer eating dead dear. Is DNR going to go pick up all of the dead deer hit by vehicles?

Later,
Dan

It's not about deer eating deer, rather the carcass might transfer the disease to soil where it can apparently live for years.

 

[dmccarty]

It's not about deer eating deer, rather the carcass might transfer the disease to soil where it can apparently live for years.

That is what I was guessing but what is DNR going to do with all of the deer killed by cars? I guess picking up the hunter killed carcass would be doing some good but it would only slow down the spread, not prevent it.

Later,
Dan

 

[teejk]

That is what I was guessing but what is DNR going to do with all of the deer killed by cars? I guess picking up the hunter killed carcass would be doing some good but it would only slow down the spread, not prevent it.

Later,
Dan

The highway depts. are in charge of that and they do pick them up when they get around to it. In fact they do seem to be picking them up more frequently lately so maybe that's part of the strategy. Even though not many deer are feeding along the roadsides, in theory I guess any scavenger (eagles, crows, etc.) could ingest the prions and scatter them via their droppings. The DNR is still struggling to get a handle on this so there is a lot of experimentation.

 

[bigtiller]

There was an article in todays USA Today paper about people eating deer meat infected with CWD in 2005. So far, no bad side effects.

I copy/past the artical below;


As people wonder what might happen if humans eat meat from "zombie" deer, there is at least one group of people who already know.

On March 13, 2005, a fire company in Oneida County, New York, fed the meat of a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease to 200 to 250 people. The company didn't know the meat was from a diseased deer. Laboratory tests for one of the deer served came back positive for CWD later.

Because little was known about what happens to people who eat infected meat, the Oneida County Health Department monitored the group's health through a surveillance project. About 80 people who ate the venison agreed to participate. Together with the State University of New York-Binghamton, health experts checked in with the group of mostly white males over the course of six years to see whether they developed any unusual symptoms.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Public Health, researchers found the group had "no significant changes in health conditions." They did report eating less venison after the whole ordeal. Otherwise, observed conditions, including vision loss, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, weight changes, hypertension and arthritis, were credited to old age.

"It’s the only study I’m aware of that has this progressive follow-up of a known point source contamination where we know the people ate a contaminated animal," researcher Ralph Garruto, professor of biomedical and biological sciences at Binghamton University, told USA TODAY.

Garruto said his team checks in with the group every two years and plans another follow-up in spring. Though he said the chance of symptoms appearing dwindles with time, there's a small possibility that someone might show signs of the disease.

"It only takes one case," he said.

There have been no reported cases of CWD in humans, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state wildlife offices urge hunters to take precautions in areas where the disease has been found in animals. In laboratory studies, CWD has been able to cross species.

"Right now, most scientists believe there is a pretty strong 'species barrier,' which means that it’s unlikely the disease will jump to a new species," Krysten Schuler, wildlife disease ecologist and co-director at the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, told USA TODAY.

But some experts have predicted CWD could one day infect humans. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said it's "probable" that humans will come down with the disease after eating meat "in the years ahead."

 

[teejk]

There was an article in todays USA Today paper about people eating deer meat infected with CWD in 2005. So far, no bad side effects.

I copy/past the artical below;


As people wonder what might happen if humans eat meat from "zombie" deer, there is at least one group of people who already know.

On March 13, 2005, a fire company in Oneida County, New York, fed the meat of a deer that tested positive for chronic wasting disease to 200 to 250 people. The company didn't know the meat was from a diseased deer. Laboratory tests for one of the deer served came back positive for CWD later.

Because little was known about what happens to people who eat infected meat, the Oneida County Health Department monitored the group's health through a surveillance project. About 80 people who ate the venison agreed to participate. Together with the State University of New York-Binghamton, health experts checked in with the group of mostly white males over the course of six years to see whether they developed any unusual symptoms.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Public Health, researchers found the group had "no significant changes in health conditions." They did report eating less venison after the whole ordeal. Otherwise, observed conditions, including vision loss, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, weight changes, hypertension and arthritis, were credited to old age.

"It’s the only study I’m aware of that has this progressive follow-up of a known point source contamination where we know the people ate a contaminated animal," researcher Ralph Garruto, professor of biomedical and biological sciences at Binghamton University, told USA TODAY.

Garruto said his team checks in with the group every two years and plans another follow-up in spring. Though he said the chance of symptoms appearing dwindles with time, there's a small possibility that someone might show signs of the disease.

"It only takes one case," he said.

There have been no reported cases of CWD in humans, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state wildlife offices urge hunters to take precautions in areas where the disease has been found in animals. In laboratory studies, CWD has been able to cross species.

"Right now, most scientists believe there is a pretty strong 'species barrier,' which means that it’s unlikely the disease will jump to a new species," Krysten Schuler, wildlife disease ecologist and co-director at the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, told USA TODAY.

But some experts have predicted CWD could one day infect humans. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said it's "probable" that humans will come down with the disease after eating meat "in the years ahead."

I worked/lived in the UK for a couple of years so I was a little familiar with "mad cow". I guess it can take up to 10 years for the ill effects to emerge. To my knowledge there has never been a mass die off of people that ate beef in the UK (and they love beef). Move that to deer...our harvest is reported at about 300,000 +/- every year (probably higher because a lot of deer kills never get reported). Guessing CWD first got noticed here in 1993. Granted it was initially restricted to a handful of counties but counties that harvest (and consume) a lot of venison. That's 26 years. No reports of mass die offs here either.

 

[dmccarty]

The highway depts. are in charge of that and they do pick them up when they get around to it. In fact they do seem to be picking them up more frequently lately so maybe that's part of the strategy. Even though not many deer are feeding along the roadsides, in theory I guess any scavenger (eagles, crows, etc.) could ingest the prions and scatter them via their droppings. The DNR is still struggling to get a handle on this so there is a lot of experimentation.

I looked at the number of deer harvested vs number of reported deer/vehicle collisions in NC. Already forgot the numbers but it was a about a 8-10 times more deer harvested vs killed by cars. Now, the number of deer killed by vehicles has to be higher than was reported, because, well, they were reported numbers. :laughing: I see lots of dead deer on the road way and most of them are hit by large trucks which certainly is not reported.

The only time I see road kill picked up in NC is if it is in a town or possibly blocking a road. Most deer in the road just get ground up. Can't imagine trying to pick up all of the road killed deer. Guess officers on patrol could report a carcass and some poor guy would have to go pick it up. Not a job I would want that is for sure. Having said that, I read of a animal control guy who liked his job since he was not stuck in the office and the distasteful part of the job did not take long. He might have a point. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Hope they can stop the spread of the CWD, but after seeing how fast and far invasive plants and animals have spread through south Florida, it will be very difficult.

Later,
Dan

 

[MossRoad]

Most Indianan highway depeartment garages have large animal composting pits made out of those portable concrete barriers on 3 sides. They toss in the carcasses and cover them with sawdust. You can tell when they have a fuller pit because the turkey vultures will be sitting on all three sides like fans at a stadium.