Is it safe to eat?

[fush]

If I were to kill a deer with CWD or Tb, would they be safe to eat or would the DNR after there done with testing, just throw the deer out.

Thank you

[mich buckmaster]

Hey I dont know the rules, but if DNR found a deer with CWD or TB, they wouldnt let you have that deer, I wouldnt think.

But I would eat it, Just make sure you COOK it forever!!!!

No raw meat, no disease!! Hopefully:eek:

[PrtyMolusk]

Howdy-

Boy, was that question big in the 'Free Love' era........:D

[terry]

Hunters,

please understand you just cannot cook this cr@p out.
the TSE agent can be ashed to 600 CELSIUS. THEN THAT
SMALL PIECE OF ASH INJECTED INTO A MOUSE TO CAUSE DISEASE
AND DEATH. ALSO, YOUR SUPPOSEDLY HEALTHY LOOKING DEER
COULD BE A DEAD DEER WALKING. we are not messing with
a normal pathogen here. something that is most frightening
to me, that should be taken very seriously here. some
humans may not come down with clinical signs and still
pass the agent via surgical/medical arena. i urge everyone
to take these studies very seriously...TSS

New studies on the heat resistance of hamster-adapted scrapie agent: Threshold survival after ashing at 600°C suggests an inorganic template of replication
Paul Brown*, [dagger ] , Edward H. Rau [Dagger ] , Bruce K. Johnson*, Alfred E. Bacote*, Clarence J. Gibbs Jr.*, and D. Carleton Gajdusek§

* Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and [Dagger ] Environmental Protection Branch, Division of Safety, Office of Research Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; and § Institut Alfred Fessard, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91198 Gif sur Yvette, France

Contributed by D. Carleton Gajdusek, December 22, 1999

Abstract
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

One-gram samples from a pool of crude brain tissue from hamsters infected with the 263K strain of hamster-adapted scrapie agent were placed in covered quartz-glass crucibles and exposed for either 5 or 15 min to dry heat at temperatures ranging from 150°C to 1,000°C. Residual infectivity in the treated samples was assayed by the intracerebral inoculation of dilution series into healthy weanling hamsters, which were observed for 10 months; disease transmissions were verified by Western blot testing for proteinase-resistant protein in brains from clinically positive hamsters. Unheated control tissue contained 9.9 log10LD50/g tissue; after exposure to 150°C, titers equaled or exceeded 6 log10LD50/g, and after exposure to 300°C, titers equaled or exceeded 4 log10LD50/g. Exposure to 600°C completely ashed the brain samples, which, when reconstituted with saline to their original weights, transmitted disease to 5 of 35 inoculated hamsters. No transmissions occurred after exposure to 1,000°C. These results suggest that an inorganic molecular template with a decomposition point near 600°C is capable of nucleating the biological replication of the scrapie agent.

transmissible spongiform encephalopathy | scrapie | prion | medical waste | incineration

Introduction
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

The infectious agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) are notoriously resistant to most physical and chemical methods used for inactivating pathogens, including heat. It has long been recognized, for example, that boiling is ineffective and that higher temperatures are most efficient when combined with steam under pressure (i.e., autoclaving). As a means of decontamination, dry heat is used only at the extremely high temperatures achieved during incineration, usually in excess of 600°C. It has been assumed, without proof, that incineration totally inactivates the agents of TSE, whether of human or animal origin. It also has been assumed that the replication of these agents is a strictly biological process (1), although the notion of a "virus" nucleant of an inorganic molecular cast of the infectious [beta ] -pleated peptide also has been advanced (2). In this paper, we address these issues by means of dry heat inactivation studies.

snip...

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/97/7/3418

1: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1994 Jun;57(6):757-8

Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to a chimpanzee by electrodes
contaminated during neurosurgery.

Gibbs CJ Jr, Asher DM, Kobrine A, Amyx HL, Sulima MP, Gajdusek DC.

Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD 20892.

Stereotactic multicontact electrodes used to probe the cerebral cortex
of a middle aged woman with progressive dementia were previously
implicated in the accidental transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(CJD) to two younger patients. The diagnoses of CJD have been confirmed
for all three cases. More than two years after their last use in humans,
after three cleanings and repeated sterilisation in ethanol and
formaldehyde vapour, the electrodes were implanted in the cortex of a
chimpanzee. Eighteen months later the animal became ill with CJD. This
finding serves to re-emphasise the potential danger posed by reuse of
instruments contaminated with the agents of spongiform encephalopathies,
even after scrupulous attempts to clean them.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

RC-43-00 [ ] [Text only version of this site] [Print this page]
Issued: Monday, 28 August 2000
NEW EVIDENCE OF SUB-CLINICAL PRION INFECTION: IMPORTANT RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEVANT TO CJD AND BSE

A team of researchers led by Professor John Collinge at the Medical Research Council Prion Unit1 report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on new evidence for the existence of a ?sub-clinical? form of BSE in mice which was unknown until now.

The scientists took a closer look at what is known as the ?species barrier? - the main protective factor which limits the ability of prions2 to jump from one species to infect another. They found the mice had a ?sub-clinical? form of disease where they carried high levels of infectivity but did not develop the clinical disease during their normal lifespan. The idea that individuals can carry a disease and show no clinical symptoms is not new. It is commonly seen in conventional infectious diseases.

Researchers tried to infect laboratory mice with hamster prions3 called Sc237 and found that the mice showed no apparent signs of disease. However, on closer inspection they found that the mice had high levels of mouse prions in their brains. This was surprising because it has always been assumed that hamster prions could not cause the disease in mice, even when injected directly into the brain.

In addition the researchers showed that this new sub-clinical infection could be easily passed on when injected into healthy mice and hamsters.

The height of the species barrier varies widely between different combinations of animals and also varies with the type or strain of prions. While some barriers are quite small (for instance BSE easily infects mice), other combinations of strain and species show a seemingly impenetrable barrier. Traditionally, the particular barrier studied here was assumed to be robust.

Professor John Collinge said: "These results have a number of important implications. They suggest that we should re-think how we measure species barriers in the laboratory, and that we should not assume that just because one species appears resistant to a strain of prions they have been exposed to, that they do not silently carry the infection. This research raises the possibility, which has been mentioned before, that apparently healthy cattle could harbour, but never show signs of, BSE.

"This is a timely and unexpected result, increasing what we know about prion disease. These new findings have important implications for those researching prion disease, those responsible for preventing infected material getting into the food chain and for those considering how best to safeguard health and reduce the risk that theoretically, prion disease could be contracted through medical and surgical procedures."

ISSUED FRIDAY 25 AUGUST UNDER EMBARGO. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EMBARGO IS SET BY THE JOURNAL.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MRC PRESS OFFICE ON 020 7637 6011 (OFFICE HOURS) OR 07818 428297 OR 0385 774357 (OUT-OF-OFFICE-HOURS) OR PROFESSOR JOHN COLLINGE ON 020 7594 3760. PLEASE NOTE THAT OWING TO TRAVEL COMMITMENTS PROFESSOR COLLINGE WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE UNTIL 16.30 ON FRIDAY 25 AUGUST AND CONTACTABLE AGAIN ON MONDAY 28 AUGUST VIA THE MRC PRESS OFFICE. DR ANDREW HILL (A CO-AUTHOR ON THE PAPER) FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE WILL BE AVAILABLE ON 00 61 3 8344 3995 (DURING OFFICE HOURS) OR 00 61 3 9443 0009 (OUT-OF-OFFICE HOURS). PLEASE NOTE THAT AUSTRALIA IS TEN HOURS AHEAD OF UK TIME.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Professor Collinge is a consultant neurologist and Director of the newly formed MRC Prion Unit based at The Imperial College School of Medicine at St Mary?s Hospital. He is also a member of the UK Government?s Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC). The MRC prion unit is was set up in 1999, and its work includes molecular genetic studies of human prion disease and transgenic modelling of human prion diseases.

Prions are unique infectious agents that cause fatal brain diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans and scrapie and BSE (mad cow disease) in animals. In some circumstances prions from one species of animals can infect another and it is clear that BSE has done this to cause the disease variant CJD in the UK and France. It remains unclear how large an epidemic of variant CJD will occur over the years ahead.

The strain of prion used here to infect the mice is the Sc237 strain (also known as 263K) which infects hamsters, and until now was assumed not to infect mice.

This research was funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK tax-payer. Its business is medical research aimed at improving human health; everyone stands to benefit from the outputs. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and the academic world. MRC has funded work which has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. About half of the MRC?s expenditure of £345 million is invested in over 50 of its Institutes and Units, where it employs its own research staff. The remaining half goes in the form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in universities and medical schools.

The Wellcome Trust is the world's largest medical research charity with a spend of some £600 million in the current financial year 1999/2000. The Wellcome Trust supports more than 5,000 researchers, at 400 locations, in 42 different countries to promote and foster research with the aim of improving human and animal health. As well as funding major initiatives in the public understanding of science, the Wellcome Trust is the country's leading supporter of research into the history of medicine.

©2002 Medical Research Council

TSS

[mich buckmaster]

Thank you for the info. I guess I WONT be eating one, but they still have to prove that it has it.

Thanks again.

[Cap'nJon]

Definately seems like a waste of post space. I would guess just like all the High Faloot'in scientists that they would be mugged by a wayword "Jabronie" before anyone would sucumb to TSE...
Don't flame out on me...just tired of the calculator frame of mind...JMHO;)

[maxemus]

WOW!! After that I'm afraid to eat ANY venison:eek: :eek:

[dieseldude]

im suddenly not very hungry, thanks for the info terry, it was long but worth reading

[twodogsphil]

Fush, just don't consume your venison by injecting it into your brain. Also, be aware that to date, there is absolutely no evidence that a human has ever contracted CWD.

[Fierkej]

Hi,
Any tissues or carcasses that are suspect for TB or that show signs of CWD (skinny or show no fear of humans) are incinerated at MSU.
We have a procedure in place in the event a CWD positive deer from another state is brought into Michigan. Here is a note from Becky Humphries about that:
"Please remember that as hunters return from deer hunting trips in other States, you may receive calls from them concerning CWD. If they shot a deer and it tested positive, please refer them to the Rose Lake Lab. We will verify with the State of harvest that the animal was positive. If it has tested positive, the Department will provide proper disposal of the carcass. You may be asked to assist in collection of the animal so that we can have the carcass incinerated. "

Below is a copy of the actual letter we send to hunters if their deer tests positive for TB. We have not prepared a letter in the event we find a CWD positive deer, and I hope we never have to.


TB Positive letter:
Your deer submitted on «DATE», TB Tag #«TAGNO», a «SEX» aged at the Rose Lake Lab as a «AGE» year old was found to be positive for bovine tuberculosis. It is very unlikely that a person field dressing or eating the meat of a deer infected with bovine tuberculosis would become infected. However, if you are still in possession of the carcass we recommend that the meat from your animal be disposed of and not eaten. The meat can be disposed of through your normal garbage pick-up or buried in the ground.

If you have concerns about being in contact with a bovine tuberculosis infected deer, contact your personal physician or local public health department for a TB skin test.

We appreciate your cooperation in submitting your deer head for examination. It would be impossible for us to collect the information we need to manage the bovine tuberculosis problem in our deer herd without your help.

If you have any questions about bovine tuberculosis, please feel free to call me.

Sincerely,

Stephen M. Schmitt, D.V.M. Wildlife Veterinarian Rose Lake Pathology Lab 517-373-9358

Thanks,
Jean