CWD meat, maybe?

[Bagel_7]

Alright guys my family and I are in a situation. This year I hunted in CO for the first time, also my first time in a CWD area it’s a mandatory check unit in CO. So I shot a buck, quarter it up and put it into my cooler and cap the deers antlers to transport back to ID. As I’m leaving I call fish and game and I’m told I needed to keep the lymph nodes to have it tested for CWD. My mistake I’m a new hunter and this was a major blunder.

So I have a deer that I can’t test for CWD and it is sitting in my deep freezer in limbo for the last 45 days.

Two questions:
1. Is there a way to test just the meat I don’t know about?
2. Would you eat it? I don’t know for sure it is CWD positive.

It kills me to not eat the deer and also I wasn’t able to shoot a buck in ID and have no deer meat this year. First year since I started hunting and it’s no fun.
Thoughts?

 

[huntsman22]

I've been eating mine, and it will be awhile before the test results are even done. Mine looked, and acted healthy when I shot him, so it don't bother me. The chances of it being infected are pretty darn slim, even in a known cwd area. Heck, the CPW don't even have a clue, so they are resorting to a mandatory test, just so they can get an idea just how prevalent it is. Besides, I have yet to hear of it making the transition to humans anyway. But if it bothers you, feed it to the dogs.....

 

[BeaverHunter]

There is a very lengthy thread about this very subject with varying opinions.

 

[Werty]

It comes down to one thing, either you feel comfortable or not. If not then don't, the fact that your asking means you don't feel comfortable.

 

[huntineveryday]

CDC and WHO recommendation is to test any deer taken from an area know to have CWD and to not consume the meet of an animal that tests positive. (Because the "it's not a big deal, you can't contract it, it's a government scare tactic, etc" comments are probably coming).

I hunt a CWD area in Nebraska, our two closest testing options are UNL vet lab and K-State vet lab, both of which require brainstem and lymph node samples to test. The disease attacks neural tissue, so the evidence of disease is present there. I haven't heard of any test for anything other than neural tissue. Your best option is probably to contact your closest university vet lab and see if they know if any other means of testing.

The CDC has decent info on thier website, and honestly, the meateater podcast over CWD (episode #070) has some pretty good info in it. If you can't test the meat it comes down to how much risk you want to take. As of now there hasn't been any evidence that a human can get CWD from eating the meat of infected deer, but there are a few studies that have indicated you might be able to. I would say do you due diligence and study it, then decide what's right for you and your family.

If you are able to contract it, incidence rate of contracting the disease is most likely pretty small, but if contracted the disease is horrible and fatal. Honestly, I would probably roll the dice and eat the meat, but I would not feed it to my children.

 

[KoolBreeze]

CWD was found in my state a couple years ago and since then state fish & game have been testing for free. I don't hunt in any of the established zones but I do 1 county outside them. I test every deer I shoot now and don't eat it until I have the results. Chances a low but the worry is just not worth it to me.

 

[Bagel_7]

Yeah I understand the risks and like it was said I am apprehensive to feed it to my kids.
I’ve also read all the archived threads, listened to numerous podcasts, read articles, etc. I’m 99% positive we’d be fine eating it, but that 1% makes me worry. If I hurt my kids I wouldn’t forgive myself.

really what I was hoping to get from the thread is to see if there was a way I could test the meat.

 

[Shrek]

I’ll be the guy to say that there’s never been a documented case of CWD in humans. There are similar diseases in humans but they’re caused by different prions. There’s always the possibility of you being the first but I’m positive you’re much more likely to be struck by lightning tonight while sleeping in your bed. Personally I’d eat the deer and never think twice about it.

 

[Historybuff]

Hope I'm not being irresponsible. I hunt in a county in Nebraska that has had positive tests. We've ate 2 to 4 deer a year from that county for the last 10 plus years. And I fed two whitetail bucks that were 2.5 and 3.5 years old to my family last year. Neither were tested. I just can't imagine life without venison.

 

[cnelk]

I’ve probably eaten CWD deer before they started testing for it.

I like the added flavor

 

[Kevin Dill]

I probably don't have the popular viewpoint here. I learned the hard way that deer can and sometimes do both....carry and transmit diseases to humans. I contracted a severe fungal infection which proved very difficult to diagnose and treat. I still carry the scars from multiple biopsies. The lab (Roche Labs in Ohio) told my doctor they had never seen an incidence of it before mine. I spent most of the winter and spring on medications which required constant blood draws to check my liver functions, etc.

Obviously CWD is totally different and my situation was too. Having once been made quite ill by a deer, I now see them in a totally different light. I look at every one I kill (and definitely eat) as a potential vector of diseases. If I'm suspicious, it's not going in my family's bodies....and my dog is family too.

I don't hunt in a CWD area. For sure I would never consume a CWD+ deer. In the OP's case, it comes down to how risk averse a person is. Eating an untested deer from a known CWD area likely carries very low risk of disease contact, let alone any consequences. It's still a gamble.....if tiny.....and one has to reconcile whether it's worth taking in the case of self and family.

 

[manitou1]

Can you tell us about the fungal disease Kevin? Interested...

 

[Titan_Bow]

I’ve never had a deer tested and never even thought about it. I think your chances of contracting e.coli, salmonella, or some other sickness from grocery store meat is way way more likely, yet I don’t recall the last time I saw a thread where someone was asking about that . Like was said, the fact you came here to ask implied you are not comfortable with it, so don’t eat it if you are not comfortable with it.


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[Kevin Dill]

Can you tell us about the fungal disease Kevin? Interested...

It was somewhere around 1994. I killed a rather large whitetail doe with my longbow. Upon recovery I noticed she had some patchy hair in areas, but there was nothing else unusual about her. I field-dressed her and then dragged her to my truck. I don't recall whether I skinned and processed her, or had it done for me. I do recall keeping the meat to eat, as I was unconcerned about a little funky hair thing.

Several weeks went by and I began to notice some things going on with my hands and arms. I developed pain and itching which seemed deeper than just the skin. My wrists swelled and hands occasionally looked discolored. Then I noticed some skin irregularity in the form of raised areas. These eventually became full-on lesions with serious pain. I was referred to a specialist who was completely perplexed. She started me on 2 antibiotics and performed multiple biopsies on both arms and hands.

The antibiotics did nothing. Ten days later the lab reports came back. I had contracted a fungal infection known mostly to deer. It manifests itself as mainly just patchy hair on a deer. In my case, it invaded my skin to full depth and began an infectious process which could only be treated with systemic medications. The fungus entered my skin this way: I did the usual ventral cut to field-dress the deer. Cutting the skin and hair likely exposed very fresh fungal spores. These mixed with the deer's blood which of course got on my hands, wrists and arms. In the act of field-dressing, I rubbed my wrists and forearms against the cut edges of the deer....probably forcing the blood and fungus into my skin pores. That's all it took.

I recovered completely, but slowly. I still have scars. Thankfully my immune system didn't suffer...neither did my liver. These days I refuse to touch a deer without rubber gloves. I wear long veterinary exam gloves plus 2 layers of nitrile gloves when I field dress any deer.

Nobody ever warned me something like this might happen. I learned a tough lesson that deer CAN bring disease to humans. I now look at them as neat and tasty things which shouldn't be assumed to be automatically safe to touch or eat.

 

[Ian Ketterman]

I've heard over half of deer have CWD, but won't show symptoms for several years. A lot of CWD seems to be guessing, but I think if it isn't showing signs of infection and you aren't eating brain/spinal tissue you'll be okay.

 

[OXN939]

Mine looked, and acted healthy when I shot him, so it don't bother me. The chances of it being infected are pretty darn slim, even in a known cwd area.

The majority of CWD positive animals are in the latent stage of the disease, and exhibit no visible symptoms of any kind. You can't tell anything from the way an animal behaves about its CWD positivity.

There are similar diseases in humans but they’re caused by different prions.

This specific point is currently under debate among the scientific community. If it's unfamiliar to you, do some reading on CJD. Both its presentation and prognosis are virtually identical to CWD, and it exists in humans. I personally know an epidemiologist who thinks it's very possible that prions from a disease like CWD could manifest themselves in humans as CJD without being easily identifiable as such.

I plan to burn some WY mule deer points next year, and if I do kill one, won't eat it until it's been tested. Due to their behavior, large, mature bucks are exponentially more likely to have CWD than are does.

 

[huntineveryday]

I think if it isn't showing signs of infection and you aren't eating brain/spinal tissue you'll be okay.

There is a study where they fed macaques meat from infected deer that were asymptomatic, and they contracted the disease. The study isn't conclusive, and it was macaques, not humans, but it is one of the studies that indicates that it might be possible to contract the disease from eating meat from animals showing no symptoms. There are other studies that indicate we shouldn't be able to contract the disease, however.

The main point being that as of now the research still isn't conclusive one way or the other, so if you eat meat from a deer that could have CWD you are assuming some risk.

 

[WCB]

I've heard over half of deer have CWD, but won't show symptoms for several years. A lot of CWD seems to be guessing, but I think if it isn't showing signs of infection and you aren't eating brain/spinal tissue you'll be okay.

I know a lot is unknown about CWD...but I have never heard 50%. They test hundreds if not thousands of deer in Minnesota and only a hand full test positive. I have never heard of half the deer in any CWD area testing positive.

 

[huntineveryday]

I live and hunt in Nebraska, I've researched our numbers. Not sure about other states. Our area of highest incidence of CWD is in northwest Nebraska, with 2018 testing showing 22% of the deer positive. I hunt southwest Nebraska where it's around 10%. Most of the state is less than that, but it seems to be growing and spreading each year.

 

[Ian Ketterman]

There is a study where they fed macaques meat from infected deer that were asymptomatic, and they contracted the disease. The study isn't conclusive, and it was macaques, not humans, but it is one of the studies that indicates that it might be possible to contract the disease from eating meat from animals showing no symptoms. There are other studies that indicate we shouldn't be able to contract the disease, however.

The main point being that as of now the research still isn't conclusive one way or the other, so if you eat meat from a deer that could have CWD you are assuming some risk.

It is possible, but it seems the % and # change every year. Until I see someone get sick or contract some variation of the disease I'll continue to consume cervid meat.

I know a lot is unknown about CWD...but I have never heard 50%. They test hundreds if not thousands of deer in Minnesota and only a hand full test positive. I have never heard of half the deer in any CWD area testing positive.

I'm not sure where I read that or if it was on a podcast. Every source seems to differ, but like I said above, until there is a confirmed transmission of the disease I'll continue to consume.