If Humans Have the Possibility to Contract CWD From Infected Deer Meat, What Will It Mean for Hunting?

A recent test shows that deer with Chronic Wasting Disease could infect humans if eaten.

If a study done with primates is to be believed, then humans might have more to worry about CWD than they first presumed.

The experiment had several macaque monkeys eat meat from CWD deer, as described by the Journal-Sentinel.

Five monkeys ate CWD deer meat over a three-year period. Three of the monkeys were tested positive for CWD. The meat fed to the monkeys were human equivalent portions, a 7-ounce steak per month.

Keith Poulsen of the Wisconsin Vet Diagnostic Laboratory said:

"It's a scary development. It's the first study of its kind that showed oral ingestion of contaminated meat from CWD infected deer that actually caused disease in a non-human primate. No one else has shown that...There's a lot of gaps in how we understand this disease. What this info suggests, the risk to a human getting infected from contaminated meat, although is very small, it's not zero."

Poulsen stated that you shouldn't assume CWD won't affect humans.

Still, the question's going to remain, and if a human ever were to contract CWD, hunting as we know it could be changed forever.

Did you enjoy this post? CLICK HERE to view more articles by Blake Alma. Blake is a 17-year-old TV & radio host, published author, hunting activist, and creationist. You can check out Blake's site at www.blakealma.com.

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