Ckillmaster's CWD Q&A thread

[C.Killmaster]

This appeared on a news website yesterday. https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattv...isease-could-mutate-to-infect-humans-n2635481

The discovery of CWD inside Yellowstone NP really put it in the headlines in a way it hadn't been before. The fear of human transmission has been there all along given the similarity to mad cow disease, but the major network news is obviously going to focus on that concern for headlines.

 

[specialk]

Just got an email with a survey about CWD in GA from UGA

 

[C.Killmaster]

Just got an email with a survey about CWD in GA from UGA

Please take the survey if you have time! That's a project we're working on with UGA and SCI.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

Please take the survey if you have time! That's a project we're working on with UGA and SCI.

Already completed it. Some of the questions about the State's plan were only known to me because of you, Charlie. Thank you!

 

[specialk]

Please take the survey if you have time! That's a project we're working on with UGA and SCI.

ALREADY DID!

 

[NWS]

Any chance of the long-lived prions being airborne spread ?

Additionally , and this could be very scary, can the prions mutate like a virus can?

 

[bigchiefchoctaw]

Another question is wouldn’t cooking the venison kill any bacteria or anything else that could pass onto you by eating it ?

 

[basshappy]

Any chance of the long-lived prions being airborne spread ?

Additionally , and this could be very scary, can the prions mutate like a virus can?

Yes, prions can mutate.

"The result is that prions, although devoid of genetic material, behave similarly to viruses and other pathogens, in that they can mutate and undergo evolutionary selection," Weissmann said. "They do it by changing their fold, while viruses incur changes in their nucleic acid sequence."

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101217083232.htm

 

[basshappy]

Another question is wouldn’t cooking the venison kill any bacteria or anything else that could pass onto you by eating it ?

Cooking venison to temperatures where we enjoy eating it will not make the prions un-infectious. We would have to incinerate the meat for that to happen. Way hot. Nothing left to eat.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/consi...sors_cutting_venison_to_prevent_the_spread_of

 

[C.Killmaster]

Any chance of the long-lived prions being airborne spread ?

Additionally , and this could be very scary, can the prions mutate like a virus can?

Close quarters aerosol from deer to deer is one mechanism of transmission.

The prions can change over time and develop different strains, but it's not really like viruses that are mutating and developing new strains constantly. Because prions aren't alive and don't elicit an immune response they don't really follow normal evolution like a virus. It operates really more like a cancer than a virus or bacteria.

 

[C.Killmaster]

Yes, prions can mutate.

"The result is that prions, although devoid of genetic material, behave similarly to viruses and other pathogens, in that they can mutate and undergo evolutionary selection," Weissmann said. "They do it by changing their fold, while viruses incur changes in their nucleic acid sequence."

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101217083232.htm

I appreciate the support, but I have a number of years of experience in deer management and CWD and my goal here was for folks to ask me questions that I can put into plain language and make it easier to understand. There are tons of publications we could link to, but my goal is to interpret that into layman's terms for the folks here. I certainly don't want to discourage you from posting about CWD elsewhere, but I was hoping to keep a short Q&A format here between me and GON members.

 

[NWS]

Close quarters aerosol from deer to deer is one mechanism of transmission.

The prions can change over time and develop different strains, but it's not really like viruses that are mutating and developing new strains constantly. Because prions aren't alive and don't elicit an immune response they don't really follow normal evolution like a virus. It operates really more like a cancer than a virus or bacteria.

Thanks Charlie for your quick response. You are doing all of us a great service by this thread topic and I appreciate it. It’s good to hear from a wildlife biologist expert like you. Keep up the good work.

 

[antharper]

Can CWD be found or tested for from a deer that is found dead that is several days old ? And if so how old ? Possible from a skull or bones

 

[C.Killmaster]

Can CWD be found or tested for from a deer that is found dead that is several days old ? And if so how old ? Possible from a skull or bones

For the industry standard test we use the carcass is good only a day or two in winter and maybe a day in the summer.

 

[kayaksteve]

Is it possible to test the soil in a bait site area? Be a good way to determine if there has been any infected deer in a particular area rather than testing individual deer

 

[C.Killmaster]

Is it possible to test the soil in a bait site area? Be a good way to determine if there has been any infected deer in a particular area rather than testing individual deer

They are starting to develop some standards around testing scrapes, it looks like it could be an additional sampling tool once we learn more about it. Some of that information is just starting to come available this year from work in MS.

 

[Browning Slayer]

Yes, prions can mutate.

"The result is that prions, although devoid of genetic material, behave similarly to viruses and other pathogens, in that they can mutate and undergo evolutionary selection," Weissmann said. "They do it by changing their fold, while viruses incur changes in their nucleic acid sequence."

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101217083232.htm

I appreciate the support, but I have a number of years of experience in deer management and CWD and my goal here was for folks to ask me questions that I can put into plain language and make it easier to understand. There are tons of publications we could link to, but my goal is to interpret that into layman's terms for the folks here. I certainly don't want to discourage you from posting about CWD elsewhere, but I was hoping to keep a short Q&A format here between me and GON members.

@basshappy

Quite a few of us tried to warn you to keep the Googling to yourself in the 1st couple pages. Now do ya us ALL a favor and… shhhhhhhhh…. It’s a Charlie Q&A. Not a Basshappy google fest.


Let Charlie do his thing.

Charlie, thanks for doing what you do!

 

[trad bow]

Using deer brains to tan deer skins is how most people who tan their own deer hides do it. If an infected deer brain is used, (unaware to the user) does the CWD stay in the hide or would the tanning process negate the CWD?

 

[C.Killmaster]

Using deer brains to tan deer skins is how most people who tan their own deer hides do it. If an infected deer brain is used, (unaware to the user) does the CWD stay in the hide or would the tanning process negate the CWD?

The tanning process would not negate the presence or infectiousness of CWD.

 

[ucfireman]

With the tanning question being asked.
Would the prions be able to be absorbed through the skin and cause a possible infection or do the prions have to enter though a specific means?
IE, eaten or saliva?