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

[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.