The deaths of three hunters in northern Wisconsin are being investigated for a possible link to chronic wasting disease. The brain-wasting disease has plagued deer and elk in the western United States for years. But it was never thought to be a threat to people. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Terry Bell reports:
Transcript
The deaths of three hunters in Northern Wisconsin are being investigated for a
possible link to chronic wasting disease. The brain-wasting disease has plagued
deer and elk in the western United States for years. But it was never thought to be a
threat to people. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Terry Bell reports:
The three men were friends who met each year in the 1990’s for a feast which often included deer and elk meat from regions where CWD has been endemic for decades.
Two of them may have died from a disease caused by mutant proteins not unlike those which cause CWD the third died of a similar brain ailment.
A researcher with the National Institutes of Health has been able to prove diseased deer proteins can convert human proteins to a toxic form. Human proteins are less susceptible, but it would indicate infection is possible.
Federal and Wisconsin state investigators want to know if the meat killed the men. No one’s been able to prove CWD can make the leap from deer to people. It took years to determine people could get sick from eating beef tainted with mad cow disease. Some doctors say it could take as long or longer to prove CWD can affect people. For
the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Terry Bell.