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Post by mangekyousharingan on Sept 18, 2008 23:04:47 GMT -5
I just thought I would ask if anyone has any information on CWD in deer. I know the cause (contaminated grass) and that it is a fatal degenerative brain disease (much like Mad Cow). I also know that know ordinary methods of disinfection have no effect on it. Freezing and cooking do not work either. These methods do not work because prion, abnormal proteins found in the central nervous system, cause this disease. Human cases have yet to be reported, but it can be passed to other animals.
I was just curious if anyone knows how safe it is to feed. I feed whole prey, so for me it is a moot point, but I thought this was something that should be brought up with the raw feeders. If anyone has any information, please share it. Thank you.
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Post by Heather on Sept 19, 2008 0:40:48 GMT -5
My understanding is that these prions stay within the spinal cord and the brain and stay close to these components...and are not spread into the meat but I really don't know. So, I will check with a friend of mine who raises deer and elk and ask her and see what she says.
ciao
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Post by tss on Sept 19, 2008 12:07:58 GMT -5
The proin can only be gotten through the spinal tissue and brain tissue, other then that the meat is completely safe for ferrets.
Dogs cannot even get CWD but ferrets and cats can.
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Post by mangekyousharingan on Sept 19, 2008 22:01:58 GMT -5
I was reading to the contrary. I read that the disease can be passed through fatty tissue. Also useful: www.cwd-info.org/ |
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Post by torrent85 on Sept 20, 2008 20:52:00 GMT -5
Even Fatty tissue really is not a problem. Venison is a very very lean meat and does not marbling like beef does. In other words all fat is stored on the outer part of muscle. Also judging by pictures of deer with the disease they do not have good fat stores and are very malnourished. It is a very interesting site.
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Post by cristina on Sept 22, 2008 15:51:17 GMT -5
Well my whole family hunts deer and they always send in the brain of each deer to a lab (there is a specific one that tests for this and other diseases) and they then give you the results.
Its a "rule" in my family that the deer brain MUST be tested before we get the meat cut up since there is a possibility of danger in eating the meat from a diseased deer.
Its not a requirement in Michigan I dont think to get the brain tested but I do believe it is in some states.
In case your interested I can ask my family all about it and what kind of lab its sent to and what exactly they check for, just let me know.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 22, 2008 18:16:51 GMT -5
Well, at least I have an excuse for being NUTS!!! I've eaten all kinds of gross stuff - even beef in England back in the Mad Cow days   I've eaten lots of untested, wild elk, moose, venison (mule- and white-tailed deer), antelope from Colorado & Wyoming - I know a LOT of hunters, and none of them test. I'm sure there is a risk - I'm sure there's a risk of mad cow in this country too. I honestly feel there's a greater risk of my ferts getting wiped out in a car on the way to the vet - or having a having a heartworm or West Nile mosquito in the house. As far as the fat tissue goes, you have to eat the fatty tissue that has the lymph nodes. Most lymph nodes are concentrated around organs and not so much plain muscle. And, this assumes you have to be unlucky enough to get a CWD-infrected animal. I try to be careful with my ferts - no wild game for them. I feed the Nature's Variety Venison, and the Nature's Variety web site states that the get their venison from CWD-free sites. The claim all their meats are human grade. I suppose they could be liars or make a mistake. I also feed the Bonus Velvet Antler, which is located in an area of Colorado that's designated as disease-free, but they check for CWD anyway. Is there a risk, of course - just like there's a risk with beef. Hunters should have their game tested, but most do not. They've been hunting for generations here in Colorado with no issues. I suspect commercial suppliers are going to be pretty careful about what gets used, even in pet food because people handle the food. And yes, you need to be careful even handling CWD-infected meat. There are also things that rabbits can get that can be fatal as well... and I know there's at least one fatal disease carried by rabbit that cannot be cooked out. So, we could become vegetarion, but it seems like all the salmonella, etc. outbreaks over the past several years have been from veggies - tomatos/jalapenos? spinach? melon? and there were a few more. (Maybe the Mad cow is catching up with me ) In short, there are a lot of risks with being alive. You can pick your poison, but nobody gets out alive. -jennifer |
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