CWD question

[TNGRIZZLY_]

Okay I have read back and forth on it and I know that they are no record showing that it can pass from deer to human or dog's. So with that said: is the meat safe for us to eat?

Are they any information on it?
Waiting 2 week for a test results is too long if this is a way to feed your family. Serious question

 

[backyardtndeer]

Experts are back and forth, supposedly cwd is the equivalent to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. From all I have read there haven't been any confirmed cases of transmission from cervids to humans. Mad cow disease is also a degenerative disease linked to cjd, that has been transmitted to people eating infected meat. Both diseases are related to prions.

To me, feeding my family with a potentially infected animal is not worth the risk. If I kill an animal that possibly looks sick, I will definitely wait for testing.

 

[Remington700]

 

[fairchaser]

A deer with CWD will unlikely look sick. They aren't clinically sick until the last few weeks of their life. Yet, they carry the disease for 18-24 months before they succumb. I've killed 4 deer that tested positive and none of them looked sick or unhealthy. I would wait on the test regardless of how the deer looks. Just saying!

 

[megalomaniac]

Okay I have read back and forth on it and I know that they are no record showing that it can pass from deer to human or dog's. So with that said: is the meat safe for us to eat?

Are they any information on it?
Waiting 2 week for a test results is too long if this is a way to feed your family. Serious question

There have been cases where humans developed CWD (Jacob - Crutchfield dz) and the only link was consumption of cervids from cwd infested areas.

It is hard to establish causality, since it typically takes 5 to 15 years for a human to exhibit symptoms from time of infection.

If you are over 60 and don't plan living past 70 to 75, you are fine eating meat from CWD infected deer. If you are younger than 60 and expect to live longer than 10 to 15 more years, I wouldn't take the chance.

 

[Omega]

There have been cases where humans developed CWD (Jacob - Crutchfield dz) and the only link was consumption of cervids from cwd infested areas.

It is hard to establish causality, since it typically takes 5 to 15 years for a human to exhibit symptoms from time of infection.

If you are over 60 and don't plan living past 70 to 75, you are fine eating meat from CWD infected deer. If you are younger than 60 and expect to live longer than 10 to 15 more years, I wouldn't take the chance.

You have a link to this? I have never heard of any suspicions that deer have infected humans. Many of the studies have shown that it is very difficult for it to jump species. Studies were done by directly injecting the prions into the brain, and only in a few instances did it work. As a matter of fact there is suspicion that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) only effects certain people, as many in England, where most of the mad-cow infected people got sick shared a gene, and can also be related to dementia.

 

[Wolverine72]

Experts are back and forth, supposedly cwd is the equivalent to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. From all I have read there haven't been any confirmed cases of transmission from cervids to humans. Mad cow disease is also a degenerative disease linked to cjd, that has been transmitted to people eating infected meat. Both diseases are related to prions.

To me, feeding my family with a potentially infected animal is not worth the risk. If I kill an animal that possibly looks sick, I will definitely wait for testing.

problem is, a recently infected deer may not look sick.
i'm not a spring chicken.. i'll eat it, but i won't knowingly feed it to anybody without them knowing of the potential risk

 

[Wolverine72]

There have been cases where humans developed CWD (Jacob - Crutchfield dz) and the only link was consumption of cervids from cwd infested areas.

It is hard to establish causality, since it typically takes 5 to 15 years for a human to exhibit symptoms from time of infection.

If you are over 60 and don't plan living past 70 to 75, you are fine eating meat from CWD infected deer. If you are younger than 60 and expect to live longer than 10 to 15 more years, I wouldn't take the chance.

love to see the research here. i've heard nothing of it being transferred to humans.
i'll eat it, but for the risk, won't feed it to others without them being able to make their own decisions.

 

[backyardtndeer]

problem is, a recently infected deer may not look sick.
i'm not a spring chicken.. i'll eat it, but i won't knowingly feed it to anybody without them knowing of the potential risk

Closest confirmed cwd case to us was over 20 miles away, but was close enough to the county line they made our entire county high risk. If I thought cwd was presently in this area, I would definitely wait for testing on all animals regardless.

As to the link to humans, from all I have heard and read, the greatest risk with infected animals is from bone, the spinal cord, and the brains. I do use a saw to cut our meat at the shanks, but always cut away any meat that may have gotten any bone dust. Everything else is deboned without cutting any bone. Yoder brothers, the one time I used them for a steer, we had chunks of bone in our ground. I don't trust processors.

 

[Rabbitkil]

You have a link to this? I have never heard of any suspicions that deer have infected humans. Many of the studies have shown that it is very difficult for it to jump species. Studies were done by directly injecting the prions into the brain, and only in a few instances did it work. As a matter of fact there is suspicion that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) only effects certain people, as many in England, where most of the mad-cow infected people got sick shared a gene, and can also be related to dementia.

May be very hard to jump species but with my luck I would be the prime example

 

[poorhunter]

Yeah, tough to know for sure what to do. Right now it hasn't been detected where I live and hunt, but if it was then I'd have to think I would any deer tested. If it was positive then I wouldn't eat it or give it to anyone. It's here to stay (like Covid) so we're going to have to learn to live with it. I think in time we'll have a much better understanding of if/how it may effect humans.

 

[megalomaniac]

love to see the research here. i've heard nothing of it being transferred to humans.
i'll eat it, but for the risk, won't feed it to others without them being able to make their own decisions.

Again, there is no definitive link proving CWD causality of Jacob Crutchfield in humans.

But there have been several folks diagnosed with JCD whose only risk factor was years of consuming cervids from cwd positive areas.

 

[TNGRIZZLY_]

Thanks everyone for the discussion.
So if I kill a deer in CWD area, I have to debone it before leaving the area?

 

[Wolverine72]

Closest confirmed cwd case to us was over 20 miles away, but was close enough to the county line they made our entire county high risk. If I thought cwd was presently in this area, I would definitely wait for testing on all animals regardless.

As to the link to humans, from all I have heard and read, the greatest risk with infected animals is from bone, the spinal cord, and the brains. I do use a saw to cut our meat at the shanks, but always cut away any meat that may have gotten any bone dust. Everything else is deboned without cutting any bone. Yoder brothers, the one time I used them for a steer, we had chunks of bone in our ground. I don't trust processors.

over my years, i try to lighten my pack and keep things to a minimum. I learned to keep the saw at home and use a knife to get through all the joints. not an issue for me. it takes a few practice swings, and dulling a couple of knives, but i'd recommend ditching the saw. at least until you know the deer is negative. the plus to this also includes no more punctured processing bags due to sharp bones. i like to hike in distances over a mile and haul out the deer in a big pack.
good luck this year. and yes, it's here to stay, so we need to learn to learn to live with it.

 

[Wolverine72]

Thanks everyone for the discussion.
So if I kill a deer in CWD area, I have to debone it before leaving the area?

this seems to be the best option as we know it today. take the meat, leave the bones.

if you have not tried it yet, don't leave the heart, tongue or liver in the woods either. i decided i like the heart and tongue. the liver, not so much, but my dogs go nuts for it. and the heavy leg bones make wonderful bone broth (assuming its CWD negative).