CWD To Eat Or Not To Eat

[wrgale]

Recently I encountered my first white tail with a positive CWD result. On the outside, this doe was an incredibly healthy-looking specimen (appearance does not matter) so I picked her out of the many other options in the bunch. A week later before processing, we find out she tested positive for CWD.

1. I am fortunate for the speed that the sample was processed and information was distributed so I had the ability the make an informed decision. The end result was I ended up disposing of this animal. As a hunter, I was having a real-time just treating this animal like a piece of trash. I knew it was the only option as this animal was going up being a donation and I could not make that decision on someone else's behalf.

2. With the testing conducted on the lymph nodes they ran a second test to make sure they did not get a false positive. Interestingly enough they are able to tell how far along the disease is in the infected animal. The scale they have goes from .001-4.5. This deer was a 4.08 on their scale. They do not put this information on the report for obvious reasons but I found it interesting they were able to come up with a result like this.

I ask myself this while the research points to a lack of transmission between species it is not 100% conclusive one way or the other do you eat it? I am just not prepared to put my own or someone else's health at risk. I do believe the CWD prion has always been part of the environment and we are just now scratching the surface of it through research. The question is have we always been eating this meat and not known about it?

The animal was harvested in Wyoming. Wyo GF did the testing and the turnaround time was 4 days.

 

[peterk123]

Yup. Still safer than store bought chicken .... by far

 

[TSAMP]

A little information may be helpful for others amd make this a more informative thread.
Which state?
Who performed the test?
What was the approximate turn around time?

In iowa I have requested testing and been turned down as the state only performs it for certain counties. It'd be interesting to learn more about your process.


Your last sentence answered the question. If it's been around all along we have all certainly eaten it.

I would not consume a deer had it tested positive. For what it's worth.

 

[Fordguy]

In my opinion (and that's all it is, an opinion) you did the right thing. It's one thing to knowingly consume it, but to provide it to another party who lacks the information to make an informed decision is wrong.

Have we always been eating CWD infected venison- no. The evidence is in the way that it is spreading, the fact that it's virtually impossible to eliminate from an area due to it's lingering presence in the environment and in the host animal, and the fact that there are plenty of areas that presently show zero evidence of CWD in tested animals.

 

[83cj-7]

I’ve eaten all of the venison that came back positive and I’m fine.

See, I’m fine

 

[83cj-7]

Lol, in all seriousness, I don’t worry about it and no one I know does either.

 

[Fordguy]

Well good. I hope you continue to be fine. Prion diseases can have a very long "incubation period". The simple fact that other very similar prion diseases have shown the ability to cross the species barrier is reason enough for me to avoid consuming anything that tests positive for CWD.

It's not a risk I'm willing to take if I can possibly avoid it. There are some interesting studies that have been done with macaques that examine primate susceptibility.

 

[KoolBreeze]

I started testing every one I killed as soon as it was found in the area three years ago and the state began testing. They test them for free, so I don't see a good reason not to test. Have not had a positive yet but I expect to any time, as they've found it within 30 miles of where I hunt. Under no circumstances would I eat it or feed it to my family, knowingly. In fact, I refuse to use processors anymore because of risk of cross contamination. But that's just me.

 

[Ucsdryder]

No chance I’m eating one that I KNOW has cwd.

 

[realunlucky]

Seems like the decision is already made before heading into the field, in that case does it make sense to hunt in a known cwd area?

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[packer58]

^^^^ Interesting point ...

 

[fmyth]

Seems like the decision is already made before heading into the field, in that case does it make sense to hunt in a known cwd area?

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The local wildlife biologist told me only 9% of the deer tested in my unit had cwd. The doe I killed in 2021 tested positive and now the buck I killed this year tested positive. Either I am extremely unlucky or their numbers are off. None of the local hunters I know in the area are get their deer tested so perhaps their sample size is too small to get a statistically accurate rate. If I kill another with cwd I'll be looking for a new hunting unit.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Seems like the decision is already made before heading into the field, in that case does it make sense to hunt in a known cwd area?

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I get that argument but wouldn’t it lead to reduced hunting in CWD areas, which is the opposite of what’s needed for monitoring and management?
I’ve hunted a CWD area going on 5 years now, had 8-9 deer all test negative and eat great.

 

[Fordguy]

Seems like the decision is already made before heading into the field, in that case does it make sense to hunt in a known cwd area?

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Most areas with CWD your odds of having a deer test positive are much lower than the odds of shooting a healthy CWD negative deer.
One of the areas I hunt had it's first positive case 5 years ago. I've shot and tested 1 or 2 each year since and haven't had a positive test yet. I'm sure if I hunt there long enough it will happen, but hoping that it doesn't.

Further, it makes sense to hunt in the area simply to remove CWD positive animals from the herd and reduce both animal to animal transmission and lessen the environmental prion load since a CWD positive animal will continue to shed prions and spread them across the landscape until death.

In short, if it tests negative, you've got venison, if it tests positive, you've helped the local deer herd by reducing the number of cwd positive vectors.

For me, It's a win/win even though I go out to hunt with the intention of eating each of the deer that I kill.

 

[Yoder]

I would bet any meat you take to a processor has been exposed to CWD if it's in your area. It would only take one animal run through their grinder to contaminate it forever. It can't be cleaned. I don't even bother getting them tested. If CWD jumps to humans, it's going to kill almost everyone. A 100% fatal disease that's transmitted by contact with a several year incubation period sounds like death to most of the planet.

 

[Fordguy]

Bleach appears to be acceptable for surface decontamination, but I process my own game.

Inactivation of chronic wasting disease prions using sodium hypochlorite - PubMed

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal prion disease that can infect deer, elk and moose. CWD has now been detected in 26 states of the USA, 3 Canadian provinces, South Korea, Norway, Sweden and Finland. CWD continues to spread from endemic areas, and new foci of infections are frequently...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Hudsy]

I’d probably pass but feel okay with my decision as I’d saved the deer from suffering the effects of the disease as it progresses. But I would pass, for no other reason than that I know.


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[z987k]

I would bet any meat you take to a processor has been exposed to CWD if it's in your area. It would only take one animal run through their grinder to contaminate it forever. It can't be cleaned. I don't even bother getting them tested. If CWD jumps to humans, it's going to kill almost everyone. A 100% fatal disease that's transmitted by contact with a several year incubation period sounds like death to most of the planet.

If that were the case then the human prion diseases, of which there are many, would have already killed all of us.

Or mad cow would have a handful of years ago.

It'd kill some people for sure, but it wouldn't remotely kill everyone, let alone all that many people.

Also, it's not transmitted simply by contact like say chickenpox.

For the record, I'd not eat any game meat that's been taken to a processor in a state where CWD exists. Honestly, I don't know why anyone ever takes their meat to a processor to begin with.

And I'd not eat anything positive.

 

[Yoder]

If that were the case then the human prion diseases, of which there are many, would have already killed all of us.

Or mad cow would have a handful of years ago.

It'd kill some people for sure, but it wouldn't remotely kill everyone, let alone all that many people.

Also, it's not transmitted simply by contact like say chickenpox.

For the record, I'd not eat any game meat that's been taken to a processor in a state where CWD exists. Honestly, I don't know why anyone ever takes their meat to a processor to begin with.

And I'd not eat anything positive.

I was looking how it is transmitted in deer. They can get it from urine, semen, touching noses, saliva and blood. If CWD was spread this way in people with a 5 year or longer incubation I believe it would kill millions. If you had surgery, all the instruments would infect every other patient after you, blood donations, sex. it would take years before anyone knew it was happening. There was a case recently where a patient with CJD (a prion disease) had surgery and the instruments were cleaned and not disposed of. The next person who had surgery with those instruments contracted the disease. Mad cow was different from CWD. They ground up dead infected cows and fed them to healthy cows to save money or people may have never gotten it to begin with. It's the same way with the disease Kuru. A tribe in New Guinea decided eating a piece of your dead loved one's brain was a good way to stay close to them. The disease spread through the entire tribe. I can't remember the name, but there was a really good documentary about prion disease and how cannibalism spread it.

 

[KoolBreeze]

One of the challenges with processing in this area is that it can take a couple weeks to get the CWD test results back and it’s not very practical to hold the meat that long before processing it.