[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')et used to it: mad cow disease is

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ew cases of CWD, chronic wasting disease, have been detected in deer in Missouri and Arkansas. This is concerning because CWD is very similar to "mad cow disease."

During the 1990s, an outbreak of mad cow disease (formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in the UK sent the world into a panic. The outbreak was responsible for killing more than 200 people worldwide, and 4.5 million cattle were euthanized.

Undoubtedly, our food supply is much safer today. The outbreak was due to farmers chopping up unwanted cow parts and feeding them to other cows, spreading the infectious agent from cow to cow and eventually to humans. In 1997, the FDA largely banned this practice. Therefore, an outbreak of mad cow disease from beef should not happen again.

But there are no such safety measures in place for people who consume deer sausage, venison, or any other meat that comes from cervids (i.e., deer, elk, and moose). Concernedly, CWD is spreading among these animals all across the United States.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Deer, Elk, and Moose

Like mad cow disease, CWD is caused by an infectious agent known as a prion. Prions are normal proteins found in the brain and nervous tissue that go rogue. For proteins to function properly, they need to be folded in very precise ways. Prions are misfolded. Worse, instead of being destroyed and recycled by the cell -- the typical fate of misfolded proteins -- prions resist degradation and cause other normal prion proteins to misfold. A slow chain reaction occurs in the brain over the course of many years, leading to neurodegenerative disease and death.

Why does the prion protein exist at all? That's an open question. Prion exists in the brains of all types of animals, including mammals, birds, and reptiles, but its function is not well understood. Mice that don't have prion have some health problems and act a little strangely, but goats and cattle that are missing prion appear just fine*.

Symptoms of CWD in cervids include postural and behavioral changes, teeth-grinding, tremors, loss of muscle control, and eventually weight loss, a paradoxical outcome given that the animal also shows signs of an increased appetite. The prion that causes CWD is thought to spread through saliva, urine, and feces, and a 2015 paper published in Annual Review of Animal Biosciences shows that the disease has been detected in at least 23 states (after Arkansas is added).

Is CWD in Deer a Threat to Humans?

So far, there have been no known cases of CWD being transmitted to humans. That doesn't mean it can't or hasn't already happened. The incubation period for these diseases in humans is measured in years or even decades. Furthermore, scientists have successfully infected monkeys using CWD-tainted deer and elk meat. It is indeed quite likely that CWD someday will appear in humans.

Having said that, the likelihood of acquiring CWD is quite low. Consider all the millions of people who potentially were exposed to contaminated beef from the UK. Only about 200 people died, which means that it is not particularly easy for prion disease to spread. Perhaps those who succumb to the disease have a unique genetic susceptibility.

To avoid being one of the unlucky few who may develop CWD one day, there are safety tips to follow. Most importantly, hunters should not consume any cervids that look unhealthy or behave strangely. Additionally, people should not consume meat that contains nervous tissue, not just from cervids but from any animal.

*Fair question: How can anyone really tell if a goat is acting strangely?

Source: Haley NJ, Hoover EA. "Chronic wasting disease of cervids: current knowledge and future perspectives." Annu Rev Anim Biosci. 2015; 3:305-25. doi: 10.1146/annurev-animal-022114-111001. Published online: 2-Oct-2014.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')size=200]'Zombie Deer' Disease Is Spreading: What You Should Do[/size]

Oh, deer. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) continues to spread among deer populations (particularly white-tailed and mule deer) in different parts of the United States. Oh, elk, and oh, moose, too, as these populations are being affected, too. With new concerns that the prions that may cause CWD could eventually jump to people, could it eventually be "oh, humans" as well?

As of January 2018, at least 22 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces have reported cases of CWD, also referred to as the "zombie deer disease." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a map of the states and counties where cases have been reported. Oh, and CWD has occurred in reindeer and moose in Norway as well, just in case that country happens to be on your mind.

In CWD, what's wasting away are the brain and body. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes, CWD is an infectious disease that results in slow progressive deterioration of the brain, spinal cord, and other parts of the body until death results. Like "mad cow disease", CWD is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Encephalopathy is a disease that affects the brain. Spongiform means that it results in holes that makes the brain look like a sponge. (Having a brain like a sponge is not good in this case.) And these diseases are transmissible because they are likely caused by an infectious agent called a prion.

A deer, moose, or elk can catch CWD via contact with contaminated body fluids (e.g., feces, saliva or urine), body tissue, food, or water. After initial infection, it may take at least a year before any symptoms show. Common symptoms, which can develop over years, include severe weight loss, loss of energy, poor balance and coordination, drooling, excessive thirst or urination, drooping ears, and more aggressive behavior. Hence, the moniker "zombie deer disease."

While so far to date CWD has not been a direct threat to humans, scientists are concerned that at some point the prion may be able to infect humans. After all, this is what happened to mad cow disease. In fact, a team led by Stefanie Czub, DVM, PhD, a prion researcher with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, was able to infect macaque monkeys with CWD in a study that Czub presented at the Prion 2017 conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in a talk entitled "CWD Transmission into non-human Primates." And you know what they say, what happens in macaques doesn't necessarily stay in macaques and could someday happen in humans too.

In the meantime it's best to take appropriate precautions, because you don't want to be that first case report of a human getting CWD. This is especially true if you are a hunter or otherwise spend time around deer such as Santa Claus. The following recommendations apply to moose and elk as well:

Get all deer tested for CWD.
Avoid deer that are like zombies in any way (e.g., acting abnormally or dead) and do not handle or eat their meat.
Properly dispose of deer meat.
Always wear gloves when handling deer or deer meat.
Avoid handling or cutting through the brains or spinal cords of deer.
Don't eat the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, or lymph nodes of deer.
Do not put any equipment used to handle or cut raw deer meat in your mouth at any time.
Don't touch, eat, juggle, or handle deer poop or urine
Contact your local health or wildlife department if you see deer behaving strangely (dead for no clear reason counts as behaving strangely)

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, there have also been calls for more aggressive CWD control measures among the deer population such as enhanced surveillance and more aggressive communication of the risks to people who handle deer like hunters. After all, you share the environment with deer and may touch many things that are touched by deer. So anything that can be done to "buck" the CWD trend in deer (and elk and moose) could very well benefit you.

[KaiserJeep]

Tanada, I saw a video piece on the State of Wisconsin testing of deer carcasses for CWD. A hunter provided samples for a freshly killed deer, then had it butchered and packaged. He waited a week, then gave away packaged meat, making the remainder into sausage. Thirteen weeks later, the state testing lab sent him a snail mail letter saying the deer carcass "most likely" had CWD and should not be consumed. That one deer carcass had by then been comsumed by a dozen or more people, save for one frozen portion of sausage.

I'm guessing, a huge majority of slain deer are never tested, even in states with CWD.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', '
')I'm guessing, a huge majority of slain deer are never tested, even in states with CWD.