New study postulates that eating CWD infected venison can be fatal for humans

A new study indicates that hunters who consumed the meat of a deer infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) have died from the experience. "Two Hunters from the Same Lodge Afflicted with Sporadic CJD," it reads. "Is Chronic Wasting Disease to Blame?"

The authors highlight "a cluster of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) cases after exposure to chronic wasting disease (CWD)-infected deer." Those findings, they say, are "suggestive of potential prion transmission from CWD-infected deer to humans."

The paper refers to an unnamed 72 year old man who frequently ate the meat from CWD infected deer who developed CJD and died.

Chronic wasting deer which has been discovered in far northwest Alabama in Lauderdale County. CWD is a neurological disease in cervids (white tail deer, elk, mule deer, black tail deer, etc.) that has swept across this nation since first being identified in 1967. It is a prion disease meaning that the pathogen is not a living thing like a bacterial disease or even a virus but instead it is caused by a misfolded protein (called a prion).

CWD belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. It is always fatal for white-tailed deer. The best-known prion disease is mad cow disease (BSE – bovine spongiform encephalitis). A major outbreak in Great Britain led to the deaths of thousands of cattle and sheep as well as the deaths of some persons who consumed the infected beef. When the disease manifests in people, it's referred to as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

Until this paper there had never been a documented link between CWD in deer and CJD in humans, but it has long been postulated as a possibility.

CJD, like CWD, causes an increasing number of neurological related maladies that lead to death.

There is CWD testing for deer so you can get your deer tested. As a precaution, if a deer tests positive for CWD discard the meat. Don't dump it somewhere as the prions remain in the soil for decades to contaminate other animals. If a deer appears to be showing signs of CWD don't eat it – but do get it tested. CWD, like other prion type diseases, accumulates in the neural tissues so don't carve out the brain or spine of any deer and then grind that into sausage or jerky. Avoid consuming the brains from any carcass whether CWD is suspected or not.

)is a contagious neurological disease of white-tailed deer and other deer species. It belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. The disease is caused by a mutated protein called a prion. It is always fatal for white-tailed deer. The best-known prion disease is mad cow disease – where a major outbreak in Great Britain led to the deaths of thousands of cattle and sheep as well as the deaths of some persons who consumed the infected beef. Unlike Mad Cow Disease, there is no known case of CWD infecting humans who consume infected animals; however, avoid consuming the brain or spinal cord tissue of any deer as a precaution or consuming any meat from a deer that is a confirmed positive CWD infected deer.

Refer to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resource's CWD page for the most up to date information about CWD in Alabama.

https://www.outdooralabama.com/cwd/cwd-faqs#:~:text=Chronic%20Wasting%20Disease%20(CWD)%20is,fatal%20for%20white%2Dtailed%20deer.

(Original reporting from Field and Stream contributed to this report.)