Ongoing Research on Transmission of CWD to Humans

[Rick M.]

There was an interesting article and discussion that popped up in my local news feed Monday discussing the possibilty of CWD being transmissible to humans in the future. I live and hunt in a relatively high CWD area with mandatory testing, and will discard any meat with a positive test result. However, I know there are guys out there that don't care and will eat CWD infected meat or not bother to get it tested in the first place. If CWD ends up being able to infect humans, would it change the way you hunt? Here is the article / talk: https://www.mprnews.org/episode/202...se-in-humans-us-osterholm-prepares-for-whatif

 

[Ucsdryder]

I’ve never understood this…

The prions are very difficult to kill and can live on hard surfaces. So if you take your elk to a processor and there’s an elk there that has cwd, wouldn’t that elk infect everybody else’s meat. If the prions are on the knives, tables, grinder, etc?

How does a professional butcher keep cwd from spreading?

 

[GSPHUNTER]

With even the slightest possibility of CWD transfer to humans, why would anyone take the chance, when it is so easy to have your harvest tested. Virtually everyone take precautions daily to protect their health, be it exercise, getting regular physicals, taking vitamins supplements, watching their diets, so why not take precautions with the game they harvest.

 

[Rick M.]

I’ve never understood this…

The prions are very difficult to kill and can live on hard surfaces. So if you take your elk to a processor and there’s an elk there that has cwd, wouldn’t that elk infect everybody else’s meat. If the prions are on the knives, tables, grinder, etc?

How does a professional butcher keep cwd from spreading?

Great point. This would actually make for a very interesting study in its own right.

 

[Rick M.]

With even the slightest possibility of CWD transfer to humans, why would anyone take the chance, when it is so easy to have your harvest tested. Virtually everyone take precautions daily to protect their health, be it exercise, getting regular physicals, taking vitamins supplements, watching their diets, so why not take precautions with the game they harvest.

Agreed. It's an easy precaution for me, as the idea of feeding myself and my family contaminated meat is a non-starter. Prion diseases are no joke, and it's not worth the risk. If it becomes known that CWD transmits to humans, I'd definitely change the way I hunt. I would deliberately hunt non-CWD areas and still get my meat tested before consuming it. The turnaround for test results is pretty quick here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but I believe places out west can take up to a month. That's rough, but I'd still rather play it safe and wait.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I’ve never understood this…

The prions are very difficult to kill and can live on hard surfaces. So if you take your elk to a processor and there’s an elk there that has cwd, wouldn’t that elk infect everybody else’s meat. If the prions are on the knives, tables, grinder, etc?

How does a professional butcher keep cwd from spreading?

Knowing what we know today, I would say all processors should take all precaution while butchers your game and do thorough clean-up, sanitation of everything used in the process. I would ask butcher if he takes all precautions between animals.

 

[jmez]

There is no such thing as a negative test, only not detected. Big difference between negative and not detected.

Positive the prions are present. Not detected they may or may not be present. It isn't 100% "safe" with a not detected test.


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[grfox92]

I’ve never understood this…

The prions are very difficult to kill and can live on hard surfaces. So if you take your elk to a processor and there’s an elk there that has cwd, wouldn’t that elk infect everybody else’s meat. If the prions are on the knives, tables, grinder, etc?

How does a professional butcher keep cwd from spreading?

How I've come to understand it....

The prions are not in the meat. You can't test for cwd by testing a piece of meat. The prions are concentrated in the brain and CNS in spinal fluid.

I would say backstraps would be where they would be found if they could be found at all in meat. But again I don't know.

If the prions can't be detected in the meat through testing then I'm guessing they aren't in there.

I've tried to confirm this opinion of mine by searching the internet but haven't been able to find confirmation.

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[CobraChicken]

There was an interesting article and discussion that popped up in my local news feed Monday discussing the possibilty of CWD being transmissible to humans in the future. I live and hunt in a relatively high CWD area with mandatory testing, and will discard any meat with a positive test result. However, I know there are guys out there that don't care and will eat CWD infected meat or not bother to get it tested in the first place. If CWD ends up being able to infect humans, would it change the way you hunt? Here is the article / talk: https://www.mprnews.org/episode/202...se-in-humans-us-osterholm-prepares-for-whatif

It will not change the way I hunt. IMI I guarantee everyone in this forum has eaten CWD meat before all the testing became prevalent.

Side note, I live in an are in Wyoming where sometimes it is mandatory and sometimes it is not. I shot a deer out of a mandatory area and called up the warden to see if anyone was available for testing on the way home. Someone called back and asked the area and said it was up to me (in a mandatory area). Kind of made me feel like there is not enough research, no one really cares or they need more funding. Idk, my experience anyway.

 

[MattB]

Knowing what we know today, I would say all processors should take all precaution while butchers your game and do thorough clean-up, sanitation of everything used in the process. I would ask butcher if he takes all precautions between animals.

I would virtually guaranty you that no butcher does what is required to eliminate the risk of contamination from animal to animal (e.g. covering their tools/work surface with household bleach for an hour between animals).

 

[Ucsdryder]

How I've come to understand it....

The prions are not in the meat. You can't test for cwd by testing a piece of meat. The prions are concentrated in the brain and CNS in spinal fluid.

I would say backstraps would be where they would be found if they could be found at all in meat. But again I don't know.

If the prions can't be detected in the meat through testing then I'm guessing they aren't in there.

I've tried to confirm this opinion of mine by searching the internet but haven't been able to find confirmation.

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You are correct. But when you remove the head from the spine, you are cutting into that spinal fluid. So most hunters have spinal fluid on their knives. Assuming that spinal fluid on the knife is used to cut meat then it is on the meat. So, when you take the meat to the processor, there is a good chance the meat has already been contaminated. Based on what I know about how hard it is to kill prions I don’t think any butcher is using enough heat or strong enough bleach to properly clean their tools between animals. Or maybe never! If an animal is dropped off and the prions are on the meat the entire butcher shop could be infected for the entire season? Let’s face it, they are not deep cleaning the shop during hunting season.

@butcherboy can you shed some light on this?

 

[butcherboy]

You are correct Ucsdryder. If an animal has CWD and you severe the spinal cord then the meat can be contaminated. If it gets contaminated and taken into a processor then there is a chance that the contaminated meat can contaminate other carcasses. We use a knife to constantly break off necks and through the vertebrae. It’s usually not an issue though or USDA or State Inspection wouldn’t allow it all. A good processor should have knife sterilization equipment on hand. They should also be cleaning with hot water and some kind of degreaser/soap then equipment and tables rinsed off with an approved sanitizer. That’s mostly to control things like Listeria and Salmonella.

At the end of my WG processing we weren’t even allowed to break any vertebrae at all. Makes it tough to process a whole elk carcass. The company that picks up all our disposal wouldn’t accept any spinal columns or heads.

On the domestic side we have to remove the spinal cord on the kill floor and dispose of it separately. Same with the brain, lymph node, back of tongue, etc. If it’s over 30 months of age it goes on a separate rail and processed last animal of the day. Also has to be slaughtered as the last animal of the day. This is all do to mad cow disease. 1 or 2 beef that were imported from Canada many years ago was the cause and I believe those were imported into Canada from somewhere else.

CWD in wild game was never a big issue in my plant. Just cleaned and sanitized everything everyday. If it was good enough for the USDA inspectors then I’m sure it was fine with WG as well.

We also always did WG at the end of the day after domestic. If we started the day with WG then it was WG all day only.

I’ve said it here before but, dang I’m glad we don’t process WG anymore. What a mess and the smell!

 

[wmr89]

Unfortunately, if CWD does jump to humans it will change the way all of us hunt whether we want it or not. Game agencies will likely wipe out deer and elk in any area with positive results.

 

[butcherboy]

I didn’t read all the threads before I posted mine. I use a combination of cleaners and sanitizers. Use a lot of bleach. I had one inspector that didn’t like that but he couldn’t argue with us because it’s approved by the USDA as a sanitizer. He didn’t like it because he liked other products as personal preference. Also, we use a knife sanitizer box that heats up the water above 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Customweld]

Unfortunately, if CWD does jump to humans it will change the way all of us hunt whether we want it or not. Game agencies will likely wipe out deer and elk in any area with positive results.

If it makes the jump, hunting and game management through license sales will be over. The sheer reduction in PR Act revenue will tank states' game budgets.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I didn’t read all the threads before I posted mine. I use a combination of cleaners and sanitizers. Use a lot of bleach. I had one inspector that didn’t like that but he couldn’t argue with us because it’s approved by the USDA as a sanitizer. He didn’t like it because he liked other products as personal preference. Also, we use a knife sanitizer box that heats up the water above 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

I read it takes heat over 900 degrees to kill the prions. I’ve heard bleach works, not sure what type of bleach? Only time I mess with the spine, in the field, is getting the head off the spines. It might be a smart move to come up with a system. Replaceable blade, last thing that’s cut on the animal, dispose of blade, put handle in plastic bag and bleach when I get home.

 

[Customweld]

If its in spinal fluid, is it also in synovial fluid?

 

[diamond10x]

CWD reminds me of the whole covid ridiculousness.

 

[MuleyFever]

CWD reminds me of the whole covid ridiculousness.

So if I wear a mask while eating my elk am I good?

 

[Yoder]

I’ve never understood this…

The prions are very difficult to kill and can live on hard surfaces. So if you take your elk to a processor and there’s an elk there that has cwd, wouldn’t that elk infect everybody else’s meat. If the prions are on the knives, tables, grinder, etc?

How does a professional butcher keep cwd from spreading?

They can't.