I just read this in one of my local papers . I knew there may be a problem a couple of years ago but it seems to be surfacing again . _______________________________________________ "Deaths of three in Wisconsin spark deer disease fears
July 31, 2002

By ROBERT IMRIE The Associated Press

WAUSAU, Wis. � The deaths of three outdoorsmen from brain-destroying illnesses are under investigation by medical experts who want to know whether chronic wasting disease has crossed from animals into humans, just as mad cow disease did in Europe.

The men knew one another and ate elk and deer meat at wild game feasts hosted by one of them in Wisconsin during the 1980s and �90s. All three died in the 1990s.

Investigators want to know whether the deaths were just a coincidence or whether the men contracted their diseases from the meat of infected game.

There has never been a documented case of a person contracting a brain-destroying illness from eating wild animals with chronic wasting disease.

�We are not saying it absolutely can�t happen. We know that it�s a mistake to say that,� said Dr. Larry Schonberger, a specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. �It gets a lot of people scared and it has economic consequences and everything, so we need to check it out.�

In February, chronic wasting disease � an incurable, brain-destroying illness that causes deer, elk, moose and caribou to grow thin and die � was found in Wisconsin deer, marking the first time it was discovered east of the Mississippi River. It was identified in Colorado elk more than three decades ago and is now known to exist in deer or elk in eight states and Canada; thousands of animals are now being slaughtered to contain it.

Chronic wasting disease is related to mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

All three diseases are caused by mutant proteins called prions that make spongelike holes in the brain.

During the 1990s, scientists confirmed that people in Europe developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob from eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease. The finding devastated Europe�s beef industry.

If elk and deer meat prove to be a similar threat, the effects would not be nearly as disastrous, in part because beef eating is far more widespread. But such a finding could raise fears of the disease spreading from wild animals to livestock and endangering the food supply.

Also, hunting where the disease is known to exist would drop off dramatically, said Steve Torbit, a National Wildlife Federation biologist.

�It may be possible hunting persists as a way to collect hides or heads and antlers,� he said. �It is a rocky ride we are in for.�

The Wisconsin Division of Health and the CDC are looking at autopsy results and other records regarding James Botts, Wayne Waterhouse and Roger Marten. Waterhouse, of Chetek, Wis., and Marten, of Mondovi, Wis., both 66, died in 1993. Botts, 55, of Blaine, Minn., died in 1999. Waterhouse and Marten were avid hunters; Botts fished.

Waterhouse and Botts died of what was diagnosed as Creutzfeldt-Jakob, their families said. Creutzfeldt-Jakob is always fatal and occurs in just one in a million people. Marten died of Pick�s disease, a more common brain-destroying disorder, said his son, Randy.

Jeff Davis, the state epidemiologist, said four or five cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob are diagnosed in Wisconsin each year. What makes the deaths of Waterhouse, Botts and Marten worth investigating is that the men knew one another and attended game feasts that Waterhouse held at his cabin near Superior, Davis said.

Botts� wife, Judy, believes her husband�s illness came from the meat he ate at the feasts. She said the gatherings were the only thing the three occasional friends had in common, other than their love of hunting or fishing.

In 1999, a World Health Organization panel concluded there was no scientific evidence that chronic wasting disease can infect humans.

But it also said no part of a deer or elk believed to be infected should be eaten.

After years of suspicions, it was not until 1994 that there was enough evidence for scientists to conclude that humans could get a form of mad cow disease from beef.

Dr. G. Richard Olds, chairman of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said it is possible scientists could come to same conclusion about chronic wasting disease, though it could take as long as 15 years.

�I am not trying to scare people inappropriately,� he said. �But we need to be honest about this situation_____________" Regards , Ralph

Yes CWD has been identified in Wisconsin

It would be in everyone's best interest to hunt elsewhere during this year's deer season

(this way I get the place to myself )

There was a CWD thread about it a few months ago

[ 08-03-2002, 02:56: Message edited by: rockhead ]