Pennsylvania this fall rolled out new regulations for hunters to mitigate the spread of a fatal disease that affects deer and elk, but the state still isn’t requiring testing before processing venison.
Chronic wasting disease is a contagious prion disease that attacks the nervous system and often leaves deer with holes in their brain that cause death. There is no cure, and the only way to confirm an animal has it – sometimes called “zombie deer disease” – is through lab testing, which requires a sample from the brain stem or lymph nodes.
Studies have not shown the disease to be transmissible to humans, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises against eating infected meat.
The state first detected the disease in 2012 at a captive deer facility in Adams County. A few months later, three white-tailed deer in Blair and Bedford Counties had it. Pennsylvania has reported nearly 1,300 chronic wasting disease cases across the commonwealth since the state Game Commission started tracking, a number that has increased annually.
Krysten Schuler, a wildlife disease ecologist at Cornell University, said the uptick could come from deer in areas with dense populations or from captive deer and elk herds at farms overseen by the state Department of Agriculture.
Prions – malfunctioning and almost indestructible proteins – cause chronic wasting disease, so disposal is key to mitigate further spread. Other prion diseases include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is rare but the most common that affects humans, and mad cow disease.
“If you had to design the perfect pathogen, prions are right up there,” Schuler told Spotlight PA.
Prions are durable, Schuler said. Extreme heat is most effective. Bleach can break them down, so hunters and processors should use it to clean their equipment for harvesting and handle high-risk deer parts with care.
Source: whyy.org
Photo Credit: gettyimages-skyf
Categories: Pennsylvania, Livestock, Rural Lifestyle