The University of Texas Health Science Center’s website review of a dubious report in the journal Neurology is gaining interest and causing distress about the effects of chronic wasting illness in deer on human health. When examining the subject of CWD and animal health, prudence and reliability are important. We urge elk hunting to take caution into account until more details about this statement are made available.
First, we emphasize: Nothing about this new record changes latest information or advice on CWD in elk. The evidence remains strong that CWD in deer and elk is not causing disease among hunters who consume infected animals. Specialists continue to advise against consuming CWD-positive venison and testing all deer harvested in known CWD areas because academic clarity is still elusive and prion diseases are still poorly understood.
The brief review focuses on a 72-year-old man who died in 2022 of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ( CJD), a human condition that is similar to CWD in deer but never clearly connected through cause. We aren’t told where he lived. The man reportedly had a friend who also died “recently ” of CJD. We are given scant information about any of this, but according to the document, both gentlemen had “…a story of consuming foods from a CWD-infected animal people. ”
This is not the same as eating foods from a CWD-infected dog. Just because someone has CWD in their family does n’t mean the patient has eaten a sick deer. Prevalence rates are low in some CWD regions, and the majority of deer are good. If either of these individuals actually ate CWD-positive deer, the supporting evidence is never presented or even suggested in the paper.
About one in every one million Americans are affected by CJD, which is most prevalent in those over the age of 55. It is known to be occasional and manifests in regional clusters. No recently investigated grouping has been linked to CWD in deer. In fact, researchers have not discovered any designs or clusters among hunters in the most recent CWD regions. While the possibilities of two neighbors both having CJD are sleek, it is not difficult. Just because something is doubtful does not establish a link to CWD, especially when there is no supporting supporting information for that conclusion aside from situation.
Dr. Dr. said that any claim that CWD has spread to people requires a thorough and in-depth medical analysis. The Cornell Wildlife Health Lab’s Kristen Schuler is a habitat disease ecology. The effects of such a discovering would have a lot of impact on both animals and the hunting industry. ”
Read the rest from the National Deer Association.
