Can you eat CWD deer

Missouri have been testing deer since the first positive results were found in the state. Mizzou labs have helped out conservation with the overwhelming test that come in each year. Mizzou and mdc have been working together to provide a in the field blood test kit for hunters in the near future. They are also working towards a cure.

My local club has a mdc agent every November put on a presentation to update us with infected areas and changes. Last year mdc has changed their tone about the risk of eating a cwd positive deer that showed no signs of health decline when it was harvested. They highly recommend not eating the deer meat. CDC had issued the same recommendation. I highly doubt cdc would link any human illnesses with deer right now to avoid mass panic.

Processing your own deer would be the safest route. Your meat can come in contact with infected deer at a processing place. Just my 2 cents.
Good points.

I wouldn't eat a deer that had symptoms. The odds of getting infected may be very low, but why take any unnecessary risk?

I would shoot & dispose of an obviously infected deer on my land.
 
I hunt in different areas of our beautiful country, I hunt some areas that have found CWD close by, but I have never had my meat tested. I was under the impression that CWD was only found in the spinal fluid, brain, and bone marrow that is why transporting bone in deer across state lines wasn't allowed. Not sure that the deer wandering in the woods knows where the state lines are and they aren't suppose to cross them
 
I had a bull elk that I shot in SE Wyoming tested because it was recommended by the state. Test results were back in about 2 weeks and were negative.
Of course if a animal is looking sickly and acting abnormal then you would have to be a real idiot or extremely hungry to even think about eating it! Many animals have it but are unaffected for years from what I have read.
 
Deer and other animals can have asystematic cases of CWD and you would never know it. I suspect that with the prevalence of CWD, people here and abroad have eaten plenty of animals that have CWD. There doesn't seem to be any known cases of humans getting CWD. However, some things take a loooong time to become apparent and I'd rather not hunt in any CWD areas.

Cancers that originate from environmental elements can take decades to evidence themselves in humans. Who knows what eating CWD animals could bring in the long run.
Deer and other animals can have asystematic cases of CWD and you would never know it. I suspect that with the prevalence of CWD, people here and abroad have eaten plenty of animals that have CWD. There doesn't seem to be any known cases of humans getting CWD. However, some things take a loooong time to become apparent and I'd rather not hunt in any CWD areas.

Cancers that originate from environmental elements can take decades to evidence themselves in humans. Who knows what eating CWD animals could bring in the long run.
 
Prions are a bit scary in the medical world. They aren't actually alive, below the level of virus, even - so you can't technically kill them. You can read about it on the CDC website. Yeah, I know..... nobody trusts anything from the CDC these days, but as an MD, my opinion is that they have the best information "out there" on this stuff. I had a family member die from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease years ago and trust me, that's one thing you do not want.

I think the actual risk to CWD in humans is probably small, but due to the nature of prion diseases, there won't be any way to say for sure for several decades. I agree with the idea that thousands of people have probably already consumed meat from CWD animals without a single identified suspicious case in humans.

There are things you can do in the field to lower the risk. The offending proteins are concentrated in the brain and spinal cord tissue. If possible, avoid spine and neck shots. Remove the backstraps and tenderloins without cutting T-bones. Remove all meat before removing the animal's head and then try to avoid cross-contamination with the clean meat. If an animal tests positive for CWD or acts strangely, I would personally avoid eating it.

Cooking steaks is unlikely to brake down the protein unless you're the twisted sort of person who enjoys well-done (aka ruined) meat.
 
Last year a buddy from out of state shot a Muley buck. He got test back later after cutting it all up at my house. It had CWD. It looked like a perfectly healthy buck. He asked me would I eat it. I said the way it looked I would. From what I've read its not in the meat. If not comfortable you have a lot of dog food.
 
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