Question about rabies. I know people eat coon so if the meat is cooked do you not get rabies? Wouldn’t you get exposed just by cleaning the thing if it were rabid?
Rabies and Chronic Wasting Disease
Rabies and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) are two diseases that can cause abnormal behavior in deer. Rabies can be found in any mammal (especially raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes) and is found only occasionally in New York State deer. CWD is a disease of deer and elk. In 2005, CWD was found for the first time in captive and wild white-tailed deer in New York State. This disease has been present for several years in some deer or elk from several Western and mid-Western states and some Canadian provinces.
Rabies is a viral infection which causes a rapidly progressive disease of the animal’s nervous system that leads to paralysis and death, usually within several days after signs of the disease first appear. Rabid deer may seem to lose their normal fear of humans, appear to have injured hind legs, salivate excessively, or be found lying on the ground struggling. Rabies can be transmitted from infected mammals to humans by exposure to infected tissues, particularly nervous tissue and saliva. Treatment can prevent rabies from developing in exposed humans. Rabies is almost always fatal in exposed humans who develop the disease. Thorough cooking will inactivate the rabies virus (see “Good Sanitary Practices - Bacteria, Viruses and Parasites in Game”, but meat from infected game should not be eaten. Hunters should be aware that deer with rabies might have symptoms similar to CWD.
CWD is a brain infection of deer and elk that leads to loss of body functions, poor body condition and abnormal behavior such as staggering or very poor posture. It eventually leads to the death of the animal. CWD appears to be caused by abnormal, infectious proteins called prions. There is currently no evidence that CWD is linked to disease in people. Cooking does not destroy the CWD prion.
The following precautions are recommended to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious diseases when handling or processing animals:
Do not handle or eat deer or other game that appear sick, act strangely, or are found dead.
Wear nitrile, rubber or latex gloves when field dressing game.
Avoid handling or cutting through the skull or spinal cord. Use separate dedicated knives, saws and cutting boards to butcher deer, particularly if you cut through the spinal cord or skull (such as when removing antlers). Do not use regular kitchen utensils. Wash thoroughly with soap and water any knives, butchering tools, work surfaces, hands and any other part of the body that has been exposed to animal tissue, blood, urine or feces. Equipment should then be rinsed with boiling (212°F) water or sanitized with a chemical sanitizer.
More here:
https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/fish/health_advisories/advice_on_eating_game.htm
Wouldn’t you get exposed just by cleaning the thing if it were rabid?..yes, Cut while gutting it or open sores are routes of infection.