Originally Posted By: Flesh EaterThat’s great!
Is it really not safe for human consumption? Should EVERY deer be checked, because I didn’t have mine tested this year?
as i understand it - as long as you're not eating the CNS - spine/brains/etc, you should be fine. MIDNR says there is no evidence that CWD can be passed on to humans - there has never been a documented case since the disease was discovered back in the late 60's.
Ignore the "zombie deer disease may transfer to humans" click-bait articles that are floating around. If you read into them, buried 5 or 6 paragraphs down is the statement that basically says "CWD has never been transferred to humans, but lab testing in some monkeys who were fed infected meat shows that it may be possible to transfer to humans at some point in the future if the disease were to mutate" or that "scientists have been able to artificially evolve/alter the prions that cause the lab modified CWD to effect human proteins in test tubes"
the takeaway from all those stories is - that "Somewhere, sometime in the undetermined future, this disease may possibly have a chance under perfect circumstances to mutate and then it could, possibly, theoretically be in the correct form to maybe make the leap to people, probably because of global warming, you meat eating, gas guzzling bastards!"
so enjoy your boneless venison, as long as you're not grinding the brains into your hamburger after lab modification of the disease from an infected animal is reinjected into them anyway
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Michigan regulations require deer in the CWD management/containment zone are either required to be processed by a local butcher or not allowed to leave without the brain/spine removed first if you're processing yourself. carcasses must be disposed of under special regulations (not just thrown out in a field, etc). they also require heads to be submitted for testing w/in 24 hrs. If your head tests positive they will notify you by phone. there are special regulations for keeping a head/skullcap with antlers attached for mounting.
HTH