Everyone laughs while chronic wasting looms

Capital Times ^ | 11-26-06 | Rob Zaleski

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this outdoors list, largely rural midwestern issues, please FR mail me. And ping me is you see articles of interest. I can't think of much the DNR has done other than studies. Juggling seasons. My guess moving Zone T to mid December from October means more deer, not less. And the baiting ban in the south, which means more deer, not less, regardless of how one feels about baiting.

The author has a great idea.

"Then they should start over and list stopping infected deer from entering the human food supply as their No. 1 goal. Period."

And there's only one way to do that, Stauber maintains: By testing every deer that's killed in the state and keeping every deer that tests positive for CWD out of processing plants and slaughterhouses.

Except those deer are, well, dead already. Dead deer don't have fawns in the spring. That doesn't reduce the deer population either. Good for the testing labs though.

[GBA]

Bookmarked bump

[squarebarb]

bureaucracies.

[the invisib1e hand]

wasting looms is definitely an issue.

[Quix]

Important post.

I think deer, squirrels, rodents, rodent urine etc. all pose a hazard in a number of regions . . . and folks seem to be blase about all such.

I don't think we have to run around super paranoid. But wisdom is in order.

And no normal, conventional . . . actually, NO treatment I'm aware of, renders the prions involved safe.


Thx.

[NucSubs]

Anyone know about this being a problem with PA deer? I am going hunting next week - only my second trip but I feel lucky (or unlucky...I guess it depends!).

Much obliged to anyone with insight.

[xcamel]

CWD has one cause, and one cause only - failure of second and third offspring to get enough colostrum after birth to kick start their immune system as they reach adulthood. It has been proved in captive herds of almost all ruminants. It's just natures way of thinning the population.

They publish study after study done by people who couldn't find their own a$$ with a mirror and a flashlight. Oh - and unless the deer has some transgenic autoimmune disorder and you kill it and eat it... there is zero threat to humans.

[Beagle8U]

Wisconsin has a real problem with CWD and to reduce the deer in effected areas they need to "bite the bullet" and make hunting licenses FREE in those areas!

I've deer hunted all my life and I would pay nothing to hunt in an area where eating the venison may(?) kill you.

If they pizz around for a few more years until it spreads to the entire state they may wind up paying taxes for something that might have been free.

[NYorkerInHouston]

Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease, like CJD, Kuru, BSE, Scrapies and Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy. It is believed that humans are resistant to acquiring CWD by eating deer and there has been no verified case of transmission occurring but there remain theoretical concerns.

[taxed2death]

"Much obliged to anyone with insight."

Read up on Prions. They can't be killed by cooking.

They are present in CWD and BSE.

[CDHart]

Scary! We are in Missouri. My husband got two deer and they're in the freezer. Now I wonder if we should eat them?

Carolyn

[NucSubs]

Well, yes, I realize that. This is why I asked. I am wondering the level of risk asssociated with eating deer from the NE. Specifically NJ or PA.

LOVE your moniker BTW.

[NYorkerInHouston]

If your husband did his hunting in Missouri, the deer are almost certainly ok. Check out this map of CWD distribution.

If you really want to be safe though I would contact your state health department to make sure things haven't changed- the map is from 2004 after all.

[NYorkerInHouston]

See the map I posted- its from 2004 so things may have changed but almost certainly the deer are safe.

[NYorkerInHouston]

The map comes from an article on the CDC website

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no6/03-1082.htm

[MediaMole]

It doesn't look like CWD has spread to Missouri.

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/cwd/

[NucSubs]

Much obliged.

[xcamel]

Or so you have been told.

[FreedomCalls]

Except those deer are, well, dead already. Dead deer don't have fawns in the spring. That doesn't reduce the deer population either. Good for the testing labs though.

The goal would be to keep CWD from jumping over to humans. That is the most important thing to keep in mind. The health of the deer is a minor consideration compared to that.