Quote:
Originally Posted by Barkriver
Yeah, but they still have the transmissible equivalent of mad cow disease.
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Right. Don't hold your breath.
There are reports of deer , particularly in Missouri and Arkansas, that have CDW (Chronic Wasting Disease), which is a prion disease equivalent to BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) ---mad cow----in cattle and both Creutzfeldt-Jacob and Kuru in humans.
To date there have been exactly ZERO cases in humans.
The last time "mad cow" was transmitted to humans was in the 1960's in the UK, because a rancher chopped up unwanted "cow parts" and fed them to other cattle that then went to market. Out of tens of thousands of people exposed, only 200 came down with the disease---apparently you need a special kind of genetic make up to get it.
Kuru, on the other hand, is spread human to human by eating the brain of an infected human. This disease was confined to the highlands of New Guinea when cannibalism was still practiced (hopefully not any more)
Creutzfeldt-Jacob pops up sometimes after neurological tissue is disturbed, as in neurosurgery or even a root canal
So, if you are the least bit worried, just don't eat venison or elk. And get vaccinated since COVID is far bigger concern