Think twice before eating cervids from a CWD zone

[tonnage]

New Research Sparks Health Canada Warning Deer Plague Might Infect Humans

https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/06/24/C...ease-Research/

[last minute]

What's a person to do dam if you do dam if you don't . . Thanks for sharing that information .

[jmdelipper]

They were discussing this on a recent Meat Eater podcast. I believe the CDC and one of the other large groups advised against eating CWD meat as well. Though they did state that there has been no case of it transmitting to a human as of yet.

[700-223]

First thing that we need to change is the requirement that meat from a CWD zone must be consumed. Someone I know had a deer come back indeterminate from eastern Alberta last year and they were told by Fish & wildlife they couldn't discard the meat.

Sorry, but given we can't be sure it can't be spread to humans or other species, this is unacceptable. If a result does not come back as definitively negative the meat should be destroyed.

[HowSwedeItIs]

Originally Posted by 700-223

First thing that we need to change is the requirement that meat from a CWD zone must be consumed. Someone I know had a deer come back indeterminate from eastern Alberta last year and they were told by Fish & wildlife they couldn't discard the meat.

Sorry, but given we can't be sure it can't be spread to humans or other species, this is unacceptable. If a result does not come back as definitively negative the meat should be destroyed.

Absolutely

[Pasc43]

If 3/5 monkeys got it that's a 60% infection rate.. Surely there are hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of people who have eaten cwd cervids and yet not 1 transmission.. make me think these monkeys aren't a good analogy to humans? While the risk may not be 0.00, I still got to believe its minuscule.

[slickwilly]

As was mentioned in the meateater podcast, they possibly put up to a million infected beef cows into circulation in England during the original mad cow epidemic, and about 200 people were infected. So, pretty small odds. Still, if I got a positive result, I think I would be doing some hard thinking.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Hands up....I have some CWD deer to give away, who wants it?

I can't knowingly eat it....nor could I feed it to anyone else knowing.

LC

[kujoseto]

Watch one YouTube video of a person suffering from a prion infection and you'll want vote in favour of assisted dying in that situation. I can't think of many worse ways to die. I won't take any chances

[ganderblaster]

Originally Posted by kujoseto

Watch one YouTube video of a person suffering from a prion infection and you'll want vote in favour of assisted dying in that situation. I can't think of many worse ways to die. I won't take any chances

The government should shutdown wild game farming ASAP. The situation will only get worse as long as game farming exists.

[kujoseto]

Originally Posted by ganderblaster

The government should shutdown wild game farming ASAP. The situation will only get worse as long as game farming exists.

Agreed. If it ever starts transferring to people it's going to be a terrifying thing.
The effect on wildlife is already far beyond what it ever should've been.

[Roughneck Country]

Originally Posted by jmdelipper

They were discussing this on a recent Meat Eater podcast. I believe the CDC and one of the other large groups advised against eating CWD meat as well. Though they did state that there has been no case of it transmitting to a human as of yet.

That was a great episode

[gopher67]

Originally Posted by jmdelipper

they were discussing this on a recent meat eater podcast. I believe the cdc and one of the other large groups advised against eating cwd meat as well. Though they did state that there has been no case of it transmitting to a human as of yet.

they are wrong i know 2 people died from eating infected meat that they were diagnosed with it

[Deer Hunter]

Originally Posted by gopher67

they are wrong i know 2 people died from eating infected meat that they were diagnosed with it

I wonder what the legal implications of being obligated by regulations to consume all edible sources of game meat and then getting infected from a disease the government knows to exist in that game?

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

I wonder what the legal implications of being obligated by regulations to consume all edible sources of game meat and then getting infected from a disease the government knows to exist in that game?

Or the responsibility to inform those with animals submitted for testing to receive those results in a timely manner.

LC

[bowhunter9841]

This article brings up a question for me. I always thought that mandatory testing was just for deer. But it says here that moose can be affected by the disease as well. I'm pretty sure I'm going to draw a tag for bull moose this year, in a zone that was just switched over to mandatory head submission for testing. Does this mean my moose (if successful) will have to be submitted as well? How does the process work? I've never had to have anything tested before. If it is a trophy quality animal, do you receive the head back if it tests negative?

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by bowhunter9841

This article brings up a question for me. I always thought that mandatory testing was just for deer. But it says here that moose can be affected by the disease as well. I'm pretty sure I'm going to draw a tag for bull moose this year, in a zone that was just switched over to mandatory head submission for testing. Does this mean my moose (if successful) will have to be submitted as well? How does the process work? I've never had to have anything tested before. If it is a trophy quality animal, do you receive the head back if it tests negative?

You can remove the portions they need to test without cutting the skull at all. The Brain stem, first and second vertebrae, and lymph nodes are all possible to submit. I individually bagged each one and then placed them in a larger bag to submit.

LC

[Jamie Black R/T]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

You can remove the portions they need to test without cutting the skull at all. The Brain stem, first and second vertebrae, and lymph nodes are all possible to submit. I individually bagged each one and then placed them in a larger bag to submit.

LC

We did this with two muley bucks this past fall and got back "Unsuitable" on both of them.

Same samples provided the year before from my dads buck and no issues completing the tests.

Its a very good point and a very long conversation I had with Margo. If the tests are inconclusive why is it required to not waste the meat.

She towed the line and made it known that the government is not running a food quality test and choosing to eat meat of possibly infected animals is ours to make.

[Dean2]

Well this makes it pretty simple for me. If an animal tests indeterminate or positive for CWD, Fish and Wildlife can kiss my azz if they think I am going to eat it or give it to any other living thing to eat. They shot tens of thousands of deer trying to eliminate CWD when it was first found in 234 and surrounding areas, and they were all left to rot or were buried.

I agree Game Farming should be eliminated. My father and the Alberta Fish and Game fought game farms when they were first proposed for legalisation, but the farmers pushed for them because of the HUGE income potential. With 70% of MLAs coming from rural ridings it was no contest. The farmers believed the government and got taken to the cleaners. On top of that it has had a HUGE negative impact on the beef business.

Now that CWD is in the wild population I doubt we will ever get rid of it, unless some smart researcher finds a cure that can actually be easily administered via food ingestion. One option is to not hunt in the affect zones but all that will do is spread the disease even faster.

A simple regulation change with respect to disposing of CWD meat would easily solve that but if the Gov admitted CWD transfers to humans they would have to test 100% of all cattle being butchered for CWD or risk having all cattle banned from those countries importing our beef. The testing costs would be huge.

[Roughneck Country]

Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

I wonder what the legal implications of being obligated by regulations to consume all edible sources of game meat and then getting infected from a disease the government knows to exist in that game?

Not sure about here but in the US you are not required to consume an infected animal based on the Steve Renella pod cast

[Warrior]

When they say "dispose" of it.... That process should be clearly defined. Not just thrown out for coyote bait etc. It should be taken to a landfill and buried should it not???

[Jamie Black R/T]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Well this makes it pretty simple for me. If an animal tests indeterminate or positive for CWD, Fish and Wildlife can kiss my azz if they think I am going to eat it or give it to any other living thing to eat.

100% agree.

[Jamie Black R/T]

Originally Posted by Warrior

When they say "dispose" of it.... That process should be clearly defined. Not just thrown out for coyote bait etc. It should be taken to a landfill and buried should it not???

When mine tested positive they told me over the phone it has to be burned or buried.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by Warrior

When they say "dispose" of it.... That process should be clearly defined. Not just thrown out for coyote bait etc. It should be taken to a landfill and buried should it not???

It's defined clearly...turn it in to them or landfill. Cannot be used as bait EVER or fed to anything else (pets, MIL, etc.)

LC

[Warrior]

Thanks....

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

It's defined clearly...turn it in to them or landfill. Cannot be used as bait EVER or fed to anything else (pets, MIL, etc.)

LC

[CF8889]

Originally Posted by gopher67

they are wrong i know 2 people died from eating infected meat that they were diagnosed with it

Do you have any links to prove this? Newspaper article or something? Not that you have reason to make that up, but if I'm using it in an arguement I'd hate to say the line "actually, it has happened.. this guy said it on a internet forum". Everything I've read, says it hasn't caused any deaths yet.

[hunt_and_fish]

Originally Posted by jmdelipper

They were discussing this on a recent Meat Eater podcast. I believe the CDC and one of the other large groups advised against eating CWD meat as well. Though they did state that there has been no case of it transmitting to a human as of yet.

That was an excellent podcast. Anyone can download it on itunes or listen to it at this link if they'd like:
http://www.themeateater.com/podcasts...sting-disease/

The guest on the show, Bryan Richards, is clearly very knowledgeable on CWD.

[kujoseto]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

It's defined clearly...turn it in to them or landfill. Cannot be used as bait EVER or fed to anything else (pets, MIL, etc.)

LC

What about FIL? I could make a case that would be preferable over MIL

[getatmewolf]

The biggest take away I got from the podcast is the disposal of bones and scraps. ANY CERVID SHOT IN A CWD ZONE SHOULD BE TESTED AND THE BONES AND SCRAPS NEED TO BE BURIED OR SENT TO A LANDFILL. I would have to think there are guys shooting deer or elk down here in the CWD zones that aren't disposing of carcasses appropriately and greatly increasing infection risk across the province.


That was a great podcast, I learned so much more about CWD in that hour and a half.

[thetruth]

Originally Posted by getatmewolf

The biggest take away I got from the podcast is the disposal of bones and scraps. ANY CERVID SHOT IN A CWD ZONE SHOULD BE TESTED AND THE BONES AND SCRAPS NEED TO BE BURIED OR SENT TO A LANDFILL. I would have to think there are guys shooting deer or elk down here in the CWD zones that aren't disposing of carcasses appropriately and greatly increasing infection risk across the province.


That was a great podcast, I learned so much more about CWD in that hour and a half.

Buddy, that's been going on for 12 years now since many eastern WMUs were branded the "CWD WMUs" and experienced a huge increase in tags, particularly for mule deer. (and more recently elk for obvious reasons)

The result was a massive increase in out of area, even out of province, hunters who have come into these WMUs, harvested cervids, returned home and disposed of the offal from the carcasses who knows where and who knows in what fashion.

There has been zero in the way of meaningful, enforceable disposal guidelines, involving what's likely several thousands of potentially affected carcasses by now, so for everyone to suddenly start running around with their hair on fire is laughable but not particularly surprising given the sordid history of this unprecedented debacle.