Not entirely surprising, the area of deadly deer damage in Ohio is expanding.
What that means for the future of deer hunting may be little. The deer hunters seem unfazed.
Importantly, there is currently no conclusive evidence that chronic wasting disease (CWD) can be transmitted to humans who eat infected animals.
Yet, in the words of a bygone sage, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Additionally, the likelihood that a hunter will someday encounter a CWD-infected deer is increased, even if small.
In Ohio, the first infected deer was confirmed in a fenced facility in 2014. Since then, two additional outbreaks have occurred among captive deer, but no leakage into local wild populations was detected.
The end of an era and the beginning of a more disturbing era occurred in late 2020 when CWD appeared on a mature wild buck near the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Refuge in Wyandotte County. A female deer captured from the same general area in January 2021 was also found to be infected.
A management plan has been developed. Nevertheless, the Ohio Department of Wildlife reported that by March 2023, the number of infected deer had reached 22, all in southern Wyandotte County and northern Marion County.
Going further, the department recorded 16 new positive cases in 2023, covering two additional counties: Hardin and Allen. One contaminated deer found in Marion County was captured not far from the Union County line.
CWD has been a problem in North America for some time.
The disease was first traced to captive mule deer in Colorado in 1967, but was not identified as a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) until the 1970s .
In one form or another, TSE, caused by a type of rogue protein known as a prion, has long been a thorn in humans, livestock, and some wild species. Recognized examples include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, scrapie in sheep, and so-called “mad cow disease” in cattle.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, like the rare “mad cow” disease, incapacitates infected people by attacking the brain and nervous system, much like CWD incapacitates deer, elk, and caribou. kill There is no cure or vaccine.
Prion diseases do not spread as easily as the new coronavirus, which is airborne. It can be ingested or collected from plants or soil. Prions are persistent and can remain dormant in an infected animal for a long time before symptoms appear.
Although outbreaks of CWD have long been linked to captivity, once released into the wild, all infected animals are potential spreaders. Infected deer body parts, which hunters may unknowingly leave behind, can accumulate prions in the soil, which passing deer can pick up by eating plants.
Because infected deer remain asymptomatic for an extended period of time, hunters and other diners who consume venison in areas where CWD is established are likely to ingest prions. Once CWD is established, the infection rate can exceed 10% and reach 25% in spots, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CWD may not ultimately threaten people, but research has not yet established certainty.
The CDC reports that squirrel monkeys and mice, which carry some human genes, were infected. Long-term but so far incomplete studies in macaque monkeys, the species genetically closest to humans tested to date, have shown that infections can occur after ingesting infected deer, including asymptomatic deer. It has been shown.
Considering the known unknowns, as well as the unknown unknowns, it is important to note that the CDC still states on its website that “CWD may pose a risk to people, and…it is important to prevent human exposure to CWD.” It is perhaps worth noting that it states: