CWD test positive
Wisconsin
I got an Email from the State that my 3.5 year old buck mid 130s P&Y came back positive for CWD. It is still at the processor getting specialty work done summer sausage and Brats. I called processor to inform them of the positive test results and they informed me that they mix it with everyone else's meat when they make sausage and I was still responsible to pay for processing. I just wanted to let folks know that your meat may be mixed with CWD meat. Also wanted to see what everyone thinks about the safety of eating CWD meat? I have done some research and I find nothing conclusive either way and since I am not eating glands and organ meat I think it will be okay. The good news is that we shot six deer on the property to include two 3.5 year old Does and the others all came back negative for CWD so the entire herd does not appear to be infected. This occurred in Iowa county. I just wanted to let everyone know so they can make an informed decision and maybe talk to their deer processing folks to ensure they are getting their own deer back and validate that they are not mixing batches with CWD positive meat. I used to process my own deer but now living in town I don't have a place to do it. I might go back to doing my own deer after this experience. Take Care Tom
"In April, the Canadian public health system’s Health Products and Food Branch issued a five-page risk advisory based on a study begun in 2009 involving exposing macaque monkeys to CWD-infected venison. Three of five macaques tested positive for CWD after being fed meat from infected whitetail deer."
This is how deer hunting as we know it will end. With CWD running unabated through the wild population combined with new research that CWD can jump the deer human barrier it is only a matter of time before deer hunters ( and their spouses) say why risk infection and stop deer hunting.
CWD research indicates a higher % of mature bucks have CWD than mature does. Further, according to the Center For Disease Control, there has never been a documented case of CWD transferring to humans.
Yet. Or, to date.
I think you will be fine eating the meat, and glad you are trying to do the right thing by letting everyone know.
sorry about the CWD in your herd however.
I posted earlier on a CWD topic. I'd been hunting the Mt. Horeb (core area for cwd) for most of my early life. I've eaten every deer harvested there before they even tested for CWD. I've never given it a thought before and now after CWD was discovered. They have no idea how long it'd been there.
The processor does what? I assume all that meat is already mixed up and given to people? That's scary. Makes me never want to use a processor again
Never heard of a processor mixing everyones meat together. CWD or not, I would find a new place.....
I butcher my own, never test, and feed it to family and friends. I'm not a monkey. I'm an ape. Completely different species lol. Your butcher could be in trouble. I thought it was illegal to mix meat because of CWD?
Exact reason why I cut my own deer.
Most meat markets I know of mix the meat, typically when making sausage, burger, snack sticks, venison bacon, etc, most everything but the cuts gets mixed. Been like this for as long as I remember, and this is in areas that have been CWD positive since the disease was discovered. Typically you get your own cuts back, but the rest, if you specifically want all your own stuff back you need to bring in enough and want enough of a certain product that makes it worthwhile for the processor to run a batch. A couple processors I know of will run a batch of just yours and just for you if a guy brings in at least 50 (some are 25) lbs (trim) to make it worthwhile to fire up their equipment.
We all have been eating CWD infected meat for a long, long, long, time IMO. Well, that's assuming you ever ate any venison product from any processor that's located anywhere near any county that is within another county or 3 close to a cwd positive. I don't use meat markets and haven't for over a decade now, but I'm pretty darn sure I was eating plenty of CWD "laced" venison snacks way back then and probably was a couple decades ago too. When you think about the tons of venison from the CWD areas that was donated to the food banks, it would seem as if lots and lots of people have been sucking down CWD infected venison for a long time. Maybe a person has to have CWD for 100 or so years before they show any ill effects, we'll all know in about 100 years from now.
why take the meat in, in the first place, till you get test results back, if your interested in that??????????????
Tell us who the processor is please.
That's why I process my own meat. After getting sausage with bone chips in it a long time ago I built a butcher shop in our home. Make my own sausage and everything. I know all too well about CWD. As far a s the Canadian report, it was never clearly stated what part of the deer was fed to the animals that contracted the disease. I have been eating venison fro one heck of a long time both from Wisconsin and the western states. Does it bother me that I might one day come down with the disease? Sure, but I might walk out of my front door, fall and crack my head open and die tomorrow too.
It was also my understanding that all places mix meat when it's for sausage and patties as well as jerky and the likes. Never heard different. Yes, I don't like that either.
Mike F - I too process my own venison. Always have. You and I have also talked extensively on CWD testing (false positives).
And who knows, we may have had CWD here long before it was discovered. Which means a good percentage of us probably have eatten CWD infected deer.
The CDC acknowledges CWD was first discovered in the western states in the 1960s. They estimate very large quantities of CWD positive wild game have been consumed by hunters and their families since then. To repeat from above, to date there has never been a documented case of CWD transferring to humans. Does this mean we all can consume CWD tainted meat safely? The WHO (World Health Organization) has issued statements recommending that wild game testing positive for CWD not be consumed by humans. No one knows for sure if it is safe to consume CWD tainted wild game, or not. It is all up to us individually.
My uncle has worked for numerous butchers. Ensured me that I’ll never get my own meat back unless I cut it up myself, which is why I made the change.
Even if your meat wasn't mixed at the butcher all of the equipment would be contaminated with prions if a CWD infected deer had come through.
This year, a major shop, that made sausage, and processed thousands of deer, for many years, has stopped doing it.... I forget their name, they are up in the fox valley some where, I listened to them, on a radio show......
We have a local butcher that makes a sausage, my wife just loves,,,, I would give her my meat in March, so I was getting mine back... She announced this year, that she will no longer be doing sausage...........................
It is a money loss, but CWD is going to cause a lot of this in the foreseeable future
I have been eating Richland County venison my entire life, save for the two years I lived in Colorado (where CWD is also). Have never thought twice about it. I have yet to take a deer this year, but if lucky enough, will be processing it myself hopefully.
"Even if your meat wasn't mixed at the butcher all of the equipment would be contaminated with prions if a CWD infected deer had come through."
This is a very good point. Again, chances are most of us have been consuming CWD tainted venison for many years.
To the OP, since you did get the deer tested and you do know for sure the meat is tainted with CWD I personally would feel obligated to inform people who might be thinking about eating it so they can make their own choice whether or not they wish to eat CWD tainted venison, which as we all know the DNR is really worried about for some reason. Just seems like the responsible thing to do at this point.
