Chronic Waste Disease

Chronic Waste Disease is now in 24 states, it affects deer, elk and moose (so far). Studies are being conducted to see if this disease can be transferred to humans, even if the deer does not show any signs of the disease and/or if the meat is cooked properly:


https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/transmission.html

A LSU Professor has stated the CWD is a bacteria and this bacteria cannot be killed even if you cook the meat. He has and still is growing the bacteria in his lab so he can come up with a test kit to test the deer that are killed by hunters.

Very good article, I recommend people read it if they hunt or eat deer, moose, elk, etc.:


https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/sports/article_fa256ae6-d5f2-11e7-a3be-e7d4e11261c1.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/02/16/zombie-deer-chronic-wasting-disease-could-affect-humans/2882550002/

The latest update that I could find on CWD:

"In deer, CWD spreads through contaminated body fluids, tissue, drinking water and food, the CDC says."

But can any of this be transferred to humans?

rick1 wrote:https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/02/16/zombie-deer-chronic-wasting-disease-could-affect-humans/2882550002/

The latest update that I could find on CWD:

"In deer, CWD spreads through contaminated body fluids, tissue, drinking water and food, the CDC says."

But can any of this be transferred to humans?

The CDC seems to think it's a risk:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/6/03-1082_article

And there is a possible, but unproven case from 2001 where someone died from a prion disease but samples for specific testing weren't available (towards end of the article linked above.)

Personally I don't hunt so I'm not that worried about it, but staying away from the brain, spinal cord and eyes is definitely smart. Of course the article mentions that:

Involvement of the tonsils and peripheral nerves early in the course of experimental and natural prion infection suggests the possible involvement of the lymphoreticular and peripheral nervous systems in the pathogenesis and transmission of the disease

Kind of scary, but if that was your only protein during an event the chance of possibly getting CWD or definitely dying of starvation makes it a bit easier to choose.