Read article on 'Zombie' deer disease...

[ninosdemente]

Here is a link to an article I read about a Zombie deer disease if anyone is interested in reading. It focuses in Michigan area. Just thought I shared with everyone. Not sure if many heard or may not heard of this. I read another article last year about this. Have not done much reading on this.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/hea...xtR?li=BBnb7Kz

[JohnKSa]

It is more commonly called Chronic Wasting Disease or CWD. It is a prion disease like Mad Cow disease (BSE), CJD, Kuru, etc., and spreads through the ingestion of infected brain and central nervous system tissue. There is no known cure and conventional cooking can not be counted on to eliminate the danger of infected tissue.

At this time, to my knowledge, there have been no confirmed cases of CWD causing human illness. That said, I think it makes a lot of sense to avoid eating brain/CNS tissue from any game animal whether it appears to be sick or not since prion diseases can have a very long "incubation" period. That is, an animal may be infected for a long time before it shows symptoms.

It should go without saying that eating any meat of any kind from an obviously sick animal is a VERY bad idea.

[std7mag]

^^^
Exactly!!

[dahermit]

It is a prion disease like Mad Cow disease (BSE), CJD, Kuru, etc., and spreads through the ingestion of infected brain and central nervous system tissue.

It is not known how the disease is spread amongst the deer.

[thallub]

What JohnKSa said.

The article at the OP link is a very good one. Studied it yesterday.

i absolutely would not eat meat from an animal known to have CWD.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by JohnKSa

At this time, to my knowledge, there have been no confirmed cases of CWD causing human illness.

Originally Posted by dahermit

It is not known how the disease is spread amongst the deer.

Good link to more on both of those statements ......https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/transmission.html

If you look at the map in the OP's link, I live and deer hunt kinda in the middle of that big blue spot in Wisconsin. We have been dealing with this for quite some time. Nothing to go nuts over, but something to be concerned about.

[Double Naught Spy]

It focuses in Michigan area. Just thought I shared with everyone. Not sure if many heard or may not heard of this.

ninosdemente, thanks for sharing. In pretty much every state where this has been discovered, and I think DNRs are searching for it in every state (and is reported from about half the states) out of concern for what it will do, they have published information concerning the issue. For example, your state of Indiana has this...

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/9650.htm

[JohnKSa]

Good information on how CWD seems to be spread. It seems to be somewhat unusual for prion diseases in that it can be spread via the meat of an infected animal--not just via the CNS tissue.

[Colorado Redneck]

Colorado is being pretty active documenting where CWD infestations are, and how prevalent it is. Last year one of the units I hunted all antlered deer were required to be submitted for testing. We personally test all deer for CWD and so far none have come back positive. Write ups about "zombie disease" have been in many publications. Depending on the personal philosophy of the writer, CWD is either a terrible threat (anti hunting philosophy) or just something for hunters to be aware of (realistic.)

[Pahoo]

Here in the Midwest and I'm sure, other states, the DNR has been tracking this for a number of years now and have been doing a great job. We picked it up from Wisconsin and it has moved into N.E. Iowa. .....

Be Safe !!!

[bamaranger]

CWD may well change deer hunting as we know it.....maybe even permanently.

All sports should adhere to their respective states efforts to manage this disease and comply with all programs and actions .

I can state that here in AL last season, that was not the case. Folks were not participating in the online all deer check system........when freezers were put out to collect skulls from harvested deer, few skulls were collected. Some of this was due to the freezers being put out late in the season.....but most of it was due to folks killing more than the 3 buck limit, and not wanting /fearing the state would cross reference a CWD skull with the harvest record.....and not finding the harvest record, prosecute the individual who submitted the skull.

It also surprises me that some states have done, and apparently intend to do.......NOTHING regards CWD. Check your state DNR/Wildlife programs, it they are sitting on their heels, complain and educate others.

The deer farm/product/high fence business has pretty much been proven to have led to this disease. Wouldn't bother me a bit if they shut it all down, across the board, for good. The whitetail is a WILD, adaptive creature. But mess with mother nature, CONTAIN wild creatures for gain and profit, and their is almost always trouble.

[JohnKSa]

The deer farm/product/high fence business has pretty much been proven to have led to this disease.

I hadn't heard that--I'd like to read up if you have some good information on the topic.

[thallub]

I hadn't heard that--I'd like to read up if you have some good information on the topic.

When it comes to control of CWD Wisconsin is the worst case. The state has nearly 400 deer and elk breeding and hunting "ranches".

[QUOTE] Tami Ryan, DNR wildlife health coordinator, gave a sobering timeline of the progression of CWD in Wisconsin. After finding the disease in one county in 2002, the agency now considers 55 counties CWD-affected.

The CWD-prevalence in bucks near the original detection area in Iowa County is about 50 percent.

In addition, the disease has popped up in deer at captive facilities in Eau Claire, Marathon, Oneida, Shawano, Washington and Waupaca counties before any wild deer in the counties were found with CWD.[/QUOTE]


https://www.jsonline.com/story/sport...cy/1503425002/


And this:

Rapidly growing numbers of cases of chronic wasting disease are appearing on deer and elk farms and hunting ranches in Wisconsin at the same time the state has pulled back on rules and procedures designed to limit the spread of the fatal brain disease among its captive and wild deer.

Since 2013, when the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) began to let some captive deer facilities with infected animals continue operating, additional cases of CWD have developed within those facilities, according to interviews and documents obtained under the state’s Open Records Law.

https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2018/...forts-stumble/

[JohnKSa]

Right, it stands to reason that CWD would be more prevalent in denser populations and that farming operations would have denser populations.

What I was interested in reading about was the information proving that the deer farm business actually caused the disease in the first place.

[thallub]

What I was interested in reading about was the information proving that the deer farm business actually caused the disease in the first place.

There is no such proof. CWD in deer was first found at a CO research facility where experiments involving live animals were carried out by CSU and the CO DOW. Some say CWD may have "jumped" from the TSE disease, scrapie, in wild sheep. Some experiments were carried out with starving deer and sheep in the same pens.

WHEN DID CWD FIRST APPEAR? The first cases of classic "chronic wasting" appeared in the late 1960's in captive wild deer held in interchangeable deer research facilities operated by Colorado State University (CSU) and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) at Ft Collins, Larimer County, Colorado. Wild deer cases were not observed until the late 1970's and then only with in a 50-kilometers (usually within a 5-km radius) of the research facilities even though sampling occurred outside that radius.

http://www.stopcwd.org/library/libra...m?articleID=13

[bamaranger]

My reference to "cause" was the 1960 discovery at a site in CO as mentioned in thallub's post.

It is now closely linked to deer farms as he further noted.

[thallub]

i became interested in these prion diseases after a distant relative descended from three lines leading to my 4th great-grandfather died from CJD. Then i found a lady descended from the same line whose father died of CJD.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by bamaranger

The deer farm/product/high fence business has pretty much been proven to have led to this disease.

No, not at all, but it definitely has helped it's spread and the amount of animals affected.

Originally Posted by bamaranger

CWD may well change deer hunting as we know it.....maybe even permanently.

Maybe, but permanent changes in hunting have also helped the spread and propagation of the disease. Whitetail deer farms are not about raising deer for meat....but raising deer to hunt. It's the recent boon in high fence hunting and the demand for deer with huge antlers that drives whitetail deer farms. CWD is a disease of concentration where deer are forced into small areas in high numbers with little or no practices to reduce the risk of contamination. The same mind set that drives Whitetail deer farms drives the spread of the disease once it gets past the fence. The baiting and feeding of deer in the same small areas on one's private property does the same thing deer farms do. The desire to see multiple animals regularly also drives hunters to not shoot as many deer or to wait several years before the shoot certain deer. These un-naturally incurring inflated deer numbers drives the risk of disease and it's spread as much as deer farms. When states try to do something about either baiting or herd size, it's impossible to enforce when so much of deer hunting takes place on private property where deer hunters want to see a ton of deer during the deer season.

Don't expect your state to solve the problem....we as hunters need to do as much as the state and federal officials.

[stinkeypete]

Here are some of the changes I have seen in South Central Wi:

You don't want to sever the central nervous system- so head and neck shots are out now.

You don't want to process your deer with others at a butcher anymore. Butcher the deer yourself. Don't saw through the spine or bones. Put all the meat in the freezer and wait a month or two for the cwd test to come back.

My opinion is overpopulation is bad for the herd. Our area has had lands chopped up for housing which has exploded the "edge" habitat deer love. Good hearted people feed deer alfalfa then the solitary animals all get together and share a feed bin. Good hearted people don't want bambi shot in their back yard. Overpopulation. Disease. Who would have thunk it?

My opinion is farming of wild deer is a terrible idea. They are in close quarters and disease spreads instantly. No fence is going to 100% keep a deer from getting over it or under it if that deer wants through. Crowd em together and disease. Huh.

My opinion is nothing good can come from importing elk to someplace they are not native to, then put them all in close proximity, and not expect native deer to get at their feed. It's not nice to fool mother nature.

It's all just a recipe for disaster and the only good reason to do a lot of this is so someone can make a dollar. The downside is... why go deer hunting if you can't trust the meat is healthy? grrr. Dear hunters stay home, populations explode and ... around and around it goes.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by stinkeypete

My opinion is overpopulation is bad for the herd.

I totally agree.

Originally Posted by stinkeypete

My opinion is nothing good can come from importing elk to someplace they are not native to, then put them all in close proximity, and not expect native deer to get at their feed. It's not nice to fool mother nature.

Iffin you're talking about the re-introduction of elf into Wisconsin, they are native. That is they were until they were eliminated from the state in 1866. As for them sharing food sources, Whitetails are browsers and elk are grazers. While they may eat the same foods at some point, they do not heavily compete for the same food sources. Got to hear those elk bugling last fall for the first time. Kinda neat, IMHO, to have it back.

[thallub]

BTW: Recently an elk with CWD was found in a Lincoln county, OK breeding facility.

The elk came from a farmed breeding facility in Lincoln County, officials said. The facility and its associated commercial hunting area have since been quarantined. The wildlife department also said it will test wild deer near the facility.

https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoo...oklahoma-ranch

[Lucas McCain]

The biggest problem with CWD is the fact that there is so much we don’t know about it. That is changing as more states become involved in its presence. The cervid (Deer) Farm’s here in Minnesota is where it has shown up. All cases ln the wild, except one, has appeared within a mile or so of a commercial deer farm. The deer in a commercial farm are monitored by the Federal Animal Board of Health. They are supposed to monitor and inspect the farm herds. Review the records of the operation and track animals moving in and out of the farm. The ABOH is part of the Dept. of Agriculture, and is very short on staff. Inspections aren’t being done in a regular timely manner either. On top of that they aren’t very transparent in their findings, although there has been some improvement, but still not enough.
As stated the state DNR has no say about and animal inside the fence. But when a farm deer gets out of the fence it then becomes the responsibility of the State DNR.
The farmer is suppose report the escaped/lost deer to the ABOH. It is also supposed to b recorded, but it appears it’s not recorded and the ABOH don’t notify the DNR, even if they know they don’t seem to notify the DNR. In areas where CWD is known to exist all deer killed during an open deer season must be registered and tested by the DNR. When there is CWD is detected the herd is culled. In the culling operation they have shot deer with ear tags which identified which farm they came from.

When a cervid farm is quarantined only the owner is the one who decided if the herd should be depopulated, no one else. And if the herd is depopulated the owner gets compensation for doing it, and animals are valued at a level of $1000 or more a head. It gets very expensive.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by Lucas McCain

The biggest problem with CWD is the fact that there is so much we don’t know about it.

There is also a lot we DO know about it. The bigger problem is misinformation and the spreading of false information. Add a little hysteria into the picture and we have folks believing everything and anything.

There is info out there, one just needs to know where to look.

http://cwd-info.org/faq/

[Colorado Redneck]

This is how I deal with CWD:
1. Shoot to kill. Head, spine shots or wherever you normally shoot game.
2. Dress the animal as always. If you're going to keep the head, cut it off the carcass as usual.
3. Process the animal. If you use a processor use a reputable business that guarantees you get your own meat.
4. Take the head and enough neck to the test facility take enough neck to include the lymph glands, about 8 inches beyond the back of the skull.
5. Wait for test results. If the results are negative, start cooking and if positive for CWD, pitch the meat.

From the Colorado Division of Wildlife:
"When field-dressing game, wear rubber gloves and minimize the use of a bone saw to cut through the brain or spinal cord (backbone).

Minimize contact with brain or spinal cord tissues, eyes, spleen, or lymph nodes. Always wash hands and utensils thoroughly after dressing and processing game meat."

If the animal tests positive its going to get disposed of, so having severed the spinal cord is a moot issue.

[ninosdemente]

Double Naught Spy, thanks for the info.