Experts: Yes, chronic wasting disease in deer is a public health issue -- for people

[TexasTowelie]

There is growing concern in the scientific and public health community that chronic wasting disease, which is killing deer in Minnesota, Wisconsin and elsewhere, could jump to people someday.

That unsettling news surfaced at a hearing Thursday at the Minnesota Capitol, where a number of experts from the University of Minnesota pressed upon lawmakers that the disease should be treated as a public health issue — a major expansion of its current scope as mostly a wildlife and hunting concern.

The issue is especially pressing for Minnesota, where wildlife officials are tracking the state’s largest outbreak of CWD yet in deer in the southeast portion of the state.

No person is known to have gotten sick from eating or handling a CWD-infected deer.

Read more: https://www.twincities.com/2019/02/07/experts-yes-chronic-wasting-disease-in-deer-is-a-public-health-issue-for-people/

Note: The article notes similarities between CWD and mad cow disease.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Hmmm. That's interesting.

I know that diseases jumping from animals to humans is a thing, and often a terrible thing. I'm guessing that hunters should be very careful about the deer they harvest.