CWD question

[Rant Durden]

I just got the call from DNR that my deer had CWD. We had it processed at a place that did a great job, but also processed with two other family members so all our meat is tainted.
I called the meat processor and they told me their equipment doesn’t get cleaned unless there is a species change or the season ends.
So my question is if the equipment isn’t cleaned, isn’t every single animal processed after an animal with CWD exposed?
Seems like a huge oversight.

 

[Charger442]

this is a crazy time with the CWD. there's never been a case of documented transmission to a human.

i dont know, i think if its me i junk all of it.

where are you located?

 

[Rant Durden]

My hunt was in Utah.
Seriously though if the meat is processed without cleaning the equipment EVERYONE is exposed.
It kinda makes no sense.

 

[zeroz]

Even cleaning the equipment with standard procedures wont work. The prions are super sticky and are known to even "survive" an autoclave on instruments since they are already denatured. Assuming there were prions present in the meat (fairly unlikely), until the prions wear off on everyone else's meat it'll potentially affect all the meat that runs through there. That said, there is no evidence of human transmission and there likely arent prions present in the meat that went through the grinder/ etc. They are found in the brain, spinal cord (maybe) and some of the lymph nodes/glands. There is a good chance that the meat is fine but I probably wouldn't feed it to the family, just because you know. I dont test anything that doesn't have to be tested so ignorance is bliss, that said I dont shoot deer that look sickly or are walking in circles. Ive got to imagine every processor has processed CWD deer unknowingly. Another reason to process your own meat.

Looking back, were there any indicators that the deer was infected?

 

[Aftermath]

that said I dont shoot deer that look sickly or are walking in circles.

I shoot those ASAP.
Then I pretend I missed.

 

[zeroz]

I shoot those ASAP.
Then I pretend I missed.

Honestly Ive never even seen one. Good chance Id do the same.

 

[diggler1833]

I shoot those ASAP.
Then I pretend I missed.

Sometimes they're hard to find in all that brush.

Actually, I shot a slipperfoot in 2021...it cooked and tasted fine...but I'm also not in a CWD area, so I suspected a high carbohydrate (too much deer corn) diet.

 

[J. W.]

Even cleaning the equipment with standard procedures wont work. The prions are super sticky and are known to even "survive" an autoclave on instruments since they are already denatured. Assuming there were prions present in the meat (fairly unlikely), until the prions wear off on everyone else's meat it'll potentially affect all the meat that runs through there. That said, there is no evidence of human transmission and there likely arent prions present in the meat that went through the grinder/ etc. They are found in the brain, spinal cord (maybe) and some of the lymph nodes/glands. There is a good chance that the meat is fine but I probably wouldn't feed it to the family, just because you know. I dont test anything that doesn't have to be tested so ignorance is bliss, that said I dont shoot deer that look sickly or are walking in circles. Ive got to imagine every processor has processed CWD deer unknowingly. Another reason to process your own meat.

Looking back, were there any indicators that the deer was infected?

What @zeroz posted is right. Prions are not living things, just small infectious misfolded protein particles that are extremely tough to denature to the point of no longer posing a threat. They get into an organism’s CNS and turn normal proteins of the same type into misfolded prion proteins that in turn go misfold more normal proteins. Like little protein zombies. The misfolded prions cause cell death, and you can’t destroy them with normal cleaning. It takes extreme heat and/or long exposure to caustic chemicals like sodium hydroxide (lye). Not the kind of cleaning you’ll find at a butcher’s shop. Any kind of “normal” cleaning probably just spreads it around. So yeah, all the meat that was processed with those tools immediately after your deer was probably also contaminated.

Whether CWD prions in particular can cause problems in humans is yet to be determined, but prions in general aren’t anything I want to mess with. Just ain’t worth the risk. If it does manage to infect you and denature the proteins in your brain, it’s a 100% fatality rate, and not a pretty way to go. Loss of coordination > inability to speak or process language > inability to eat/drink > coma > death. All while your family has to watch and change your diapers. No thanks.

Even though we haven’t had any cases in Louisiana yet, I never open the spinal column anymore when taking meat off the carcass. I used to cut bone-in chops off the back, but now I just cut back straps off of that area.

 

[Superjet]

I can almost guarantee I've eaten tainted meat, but OP's very question is why I started processing my own.

 

[Secant]

Send glands in asap. Let it hang until you get results back. Then process your own.

There's also basically no way that you are cleaning prions off of processing surfaces, and likely not cutlery either. I think the recommendation is to soak knives in straight bleach (not diluted) for an hour and then pressure cook them - but still no guarantee. If you don't want to eat prions, be extra careful with how you field dress and handle the animal, don't go to a meat processor, and throw out knives used to gut a deer that comes back positive.