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Preparation is key when dealing with deer disease
Tim Renken, St. Louis Post Dispatch
11/02/2002
I've been reading about chronic wasting disease now for nine months. I've read the extensive coverage in the Wisconsin, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska newspapers. I've read the bulletins from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and those from the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study of the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Georgia.
I've read the extensive materials published by state wildlife agencies around the country, including Wisconsin and Colorado, and I've read probably everything about CWD published by the Missouri and Illinois conservation and public health agencies.
I know a lot more about CWD than I want to know. Am I going deer hunting next month? I sure am. And if I bag a deer, I plan to bring it home and eat it. That, incidentally, is also the plans of Dave Erickson, wildlife chief for the Missouri Department of Conservation, who knows a lot more about CWD than I do.
What about mad cow and Creuzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD)? Am I worried that I might infect my family with this venison?
Only to the extent that I plan to take a few minor precautions when I field-dress my deer. These steps, a good idea even before CWD, are given below.
I know that scientists won't rule out the possibility that CWD is a threat to people. The scientists made that mistake in Britain in the mad cow disease disaster. But refusing to rule out the threat is by no means the same as declaring, even suspecting, that CWD is a health threat to humans.
There is no evidence, none, that indicates that CWD is a threat to people. There is quite a bit of evidence, persuasive but none conclusive, that it is not. The most persuasive, to me, are these two facts:
No. 1: People have been eating scrapie-infected sheep for hundreds of years with no known health repercussions. Scrapie is caused by the same kind of infectious agent that is believed to cause mad cow and CWD.
No. 2: There is no difference in the rate of CJD among people in Colorado and Wyoming than in the rest of the country. Presumably, people in northwestern Colorado and southern Wyoming have been eating deer and elk with CWD for at least 30 years. If CWD in deer and elk could lead to CJD in people, those states would have a higher CJD rate than the rest of the country.
Adding to my confidence is the fact that CWD has not been found in Missouri, where I plan to hunt. Nor has it been found in Illinois.
Another factor is that I enjoy deer hunting and would sorely miss it and the associated family reunion. I'd also miss having venison to eat. Still another factor is that hunting is the only effective method for maintaining healthy deer population levels. Should people in large numbers stop hunting deer, our farms and forests would soon be in big trouble.
Here are steps authorities recommend to minimize any health risk. Incidentally, don't buy one of those CWD test kits now being advertised. Their only valid function is to transfer your money to the vendors.
* Don't shoot a deer that looks or acts sick. If you do shoot one, don't dress it. Remember that several diseases have external symptoms like CWD.
* Wear disposable rubber gloves, available at any pharmacy, when you field-dress your deer. The gloves will help protect you from Lyme and other diseases.
* Avoid cutting through or handling brain and spinal tissues, where the CWD agent lives. Most commercial processors this year say they prefer to get the whole field-dressed deer.
* Avoid backyard processors where health concerns may be casual or nonexistent.
* If you must cut through the spine, don't use that saw for anything else, ever. Clean up thoroughly after field dressing your deer. Wash your clothes and tools.
* Get the meat chilled as soon as possible.
COMMENTARY\Reporter Tim Renken\E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com\Phone: 314-849-4239
Tim Renken, St. Louis Post Dispatch
11/02/2002
I've been reading about chronic wasting disease now for nine months. I've read the extensive coverage in the Wisconsin, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska newspapers. I've read the bulletins from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and those from the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study of the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Georgia.
I've read the extensive materials published by state wildlife agencies around the country, including Wisconsin and Colorado, and I've read probably everything about CWD published by the Missouri and Illinois conservation and public health agencies.
I know a lot more about CWD than I want to know. Am I going deer hunting next month? I sure am. And if I bag a deer, I plan to bring it home and eat it. That, incidentally, is also the plans of Dave Erickson, wildlife chief for the Missouri Department of Conservation, who knows a lot more about CWD than I do.
What about mad cow and Creuzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD)? Am I worried that I might infect my family with this venison?
Only to the extent that I plan to take a few minor precautions when I field-dress my deer. These steps, a good idea even before CWD, are given below.
I know that scientists won't rule out the possibility that CWD is a threat to people. The scientists made that mistake in Britain in the mad cow disease disaster. But refusing to rule out the threat is by no means the same as declaring, even suspecting, that CWD is a health threat to humans.
There is no evidence, none, that indicates that CWD is a threat to people. There is quite a bit of evidence, persuasive but none conclusive, that it is not. The most persuasive, to me, are these two facts:
No. 1: People have been eating scrapie-infected sheep for hundreds of years with no known health repercussions. Scrapie is caused by the same kind of infectious agent that is believed to cause mad cow and CWD.
No. 2: There is no difference in the rate of CJD among people in Colorado and Wyoming than in the rest of the country. Presumably, people in northwestern Colorado and southern Wyoming have been eating deer and elk with CWD for at least 30 years. If CWD in deer and elk could lead to CJD in people, those states would have a higher CJD rate than the rest of the country.
Adding to my confidence is the fact that CWD has not been found in Missouri, where I plan to hunt. Nor has it been found in Illinois.
Another factor is that I enjoy deer hunting and would sorely miss it and the associated family reunion. I'd also miss having venison to eat. Still another factor is that hunting is the only effective method for maintaining healthy deer population levels. Should people in large numbers stop hunting deer, our farms and forests would soon be in big trouble.
Here are steps authorities recommend to minimize any health risk. Incidentally, don't buy one of those CWD test kits now being advertised. Their only valid function is to transfer your money to the vendors.
* Don't shoot a deer that looks or acts sick. If you do shoot one, don't dress it. Remember that several diseases have external symptoms like CWD.
* Wear disposable rubber gloves, available at any pharmacy, when you field-dress your deer. The gloves will help protect you from Lyme and other diseases.
* Avoid cutting through or handling brain and spinal tissues, where the CWD agent lives. Most commercial processors this year say they prefer to get the whole field-dressed deer.
* Avoid backyard processors where health concerns may be casual or nonexistent.
* If you must cut through the spine, don't use that saw for anything else, ever. Clean up thoroughly after field dressing your deer. Wash your clothes and tools.
* Get the meat chilled as soon as possible.
COMMENTARY\Reporter Tim Renken\E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com\Phone: 314-849-4239
