A couple years back I was hearing a lot of talk about chronic wasting disease really starting to spread all over the country,but I have not heard anything about it for some time now...Is the disease on the decline(I hope),or has it continued to grow?...Has it affected the deer population were any of you folks live?
I cant prove it yet, and I dont have time now to distill all the articles and research Ive collected, but I think people are dying from eating prions in game meat.
The disease is called Creutzfeld-Jacob syndrome, and to some people, maybe even some Doctors, it may appear to be like Alzheimer disease. ( Who is going to send Crazy-Old-Elk-Hunter uncle Bert out for an autopsy?)
A couple of guys in Colorado may have died from it but no one can conclusively prove it. Researchers are working hard to track down the causes and determine the extent of Danger. Most of Northern Colorado is affected, and animals are being tested, but who knows how conclusive the tests are from just a head.
I think prions are very widespread, many are being eaten in game meat and maybe other meat too. The danger is a matter of how our bodies react to, or dispose of the foreign proteins-Prions. The stakes are very high, and much is not understood, which is why governments and researchers are not saying much now. Your wild life management organizations can provide reports on where testing shows Chronic Wasting Disease to be present . I dont hunt Elk or Deer any more because of it. Heilung
I just checked on a Chronic Wasting Disease website, and the news is not good at all. You can go to Google and punch in Chronic Wasting Disease and then choose the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance listing. Then choose LINKS in the upper right . For virtually every state, there is a link with very clear summaries, including West Virginia, and the bad news is most of the major Deer and Elk hunting states are affected. Wisconsin has an excellent summary of how the future may play out. New Mexico's summary was last updated in 2004, I guess they dont want to slow the sales of licenses.Heilung
Thanks,Heilung..A few years back I saw on the news , were they had discovered a couple cases over in the eastern part of the state,but I've heard almost nothing about it lately..They have those paid hunting farms over there,were city people go and pay to shoot deer ..,I saw a hunting show one time, and they were hunting at one of those paid hunting farms in Texas,and they would hang buckets on the truck to draw the bucks in ,because they associated the rattle of the buckets to being fed.(to me they may as well shoot a cow as a tame deer)..I suspect that at one time those paid hunting farms were feeding the deer protein based growth suppliments,..Mad cow disease has been caused by feeding cattle growth suppliments actualy made from cattle urine,and slaughter house waste products..
....which is why governments and researchers are not saying much now.Heilung
I agree...and apologize for making light of the situation. It's both a serious and curious matter. Nobody really knows what it all means. Lyme disease, bird-flu, and West Nile are examples of other diseases that have our best and brightest stumped. The long time heritage of American deer and elk hunting could be at stake...and sick people.
We'll have to keep a pulse on the situation and hope for the best.
I too have wondered why we don't hear about west nile,and bird flu any more..While I don't really know what causes CWD,I have no doubt that it's man related..
I too have wondered why we don't hear about west nile,and bird flu any more..While I don't really know what causes CWD,I have no doubt that it's man related..
There are a handful of deaths attributed to it each year in California.
[QUOTE=Rogelk;265642]I agree...and apologize for making light of the situation. It's both a serious and curious matter. Nobody really knows what it all means. Lyme disease, bird-flu, and West Nile are examples of other diseases that have our best and brightest stumped. The long time heritage of American deer and elk hunting could be at stake...and sick people.
Those diseases all have different causes, different degrees of danger, and varied progress at cures. I can tell you the details, but just do some googling on each one, they are not very mysterious, these days.
Prions however, ARE mysterious. And maybe the most bizarre fact is that surgeons have to throw away instruments used on patients with Creutzfeld-Jacob disease. Sterilizing won't get rid of the "teflon" Prions. (And surely cooking the game meat won't either.)
Troy: I presume you mean "it" is West Nile virus, not Avian Bird Flu!
Heilung
Prions are totally freaky. I'm starting to think the line that's been drawn between living and non-living is an arbitrary one, like a lot of lines. There are things at one end that are definitely alive, and things at the other end that definitely aren't, but the things in the middle are debatable.
Viruses blurred the line first because they're basically self-replicating crystals, and prions are even worse: they seem to be just self-replicating proteins.
While the guy discussing it was a total fruitcake, I heard a radio program on Creutzfeld-Jacob's disease several years back. This guy said that the disease basically crystalizes the brain cells and creates a very debillitating condition with all sorts of unpredictable symptoms-all leading to death. He then went on to claim that it was all conspiracy betweeen the gov't and the dairy industry to hide the fact that they were infusing dairy products with Human Growth Hormones (HGH).
Not trying to totally downplay CWD or Avian or Mad Cow nor am I saying that deer meat is bad for you in general. The reason I'm not is I know of a case of one birth defect from tainted deer meat. However, I usually don't get too wound up over every doom disease I hear about and for good reason. Some researchers and scientist types tend to be obsessive compulsive types. These types exist statistically in every population. Some obsessive types fixate on germs and wash their hands 75 times a day and are afraid to come near others because of germ phobias. Some scientists are bonkers. There's nothing that says all scientists are perfectly normal people. You can't live in fear off the warnings we are inundated with about tsunamis, hurricanes, Mad Cow etc. We still have Bubonic Plague in the US. Mad Cow and Bubonic Plague don't spread here like they used to because of different tactics we fight them with. Be aware of these diseases but also be aware that there are some kooky scientists out there spreading bs like wildfire. Be selective.
In wyoming they have many rules about cwd if you hunt in an area that is listed with cwd the game you shoot does not leave that area.
you have to send the head in to be tested.
But not all of the deer or wildlife in that area have it.
so maybe some are immune to it and others aren't.
