CWD and local idaho meat processors

[Ridgeratt]

Just a heads up. My son wanted to get some brats made with some left over venison and didn't have enough poundage. Called and asked to use some of the buffalo I had. He contacted the local smoke house and they didn't have a problem with the buffalo but they were interested if the deer had come from any area that had CWD. Wonder how much longer the shops are going to keep doing wild game. 

[bornhunter]

Where was this at?

[Ridgeratt]

The shop he called was in Idaho and it is in a confirmed CWD location. But the animal in question came from NE Washington

[baldopepper]

I know a couple, at least, in Utah quit doing em because I guess it's quite a hassle if one you processed later is confirmed positive.  Hopefully they'll come up with a field test soon so they can be safely processed

[Ridgeratt]

Imagine the cost to process wild game if they have to clean and disinfect the equipment after every animal.

This might skew the reporting as people will claim a non-effected area, they shot it in.

[nwwanderer]

Many states with long confirmed CWD are killing and consuming hundreds of thousands of deer.  Why is WDFW reinventing the wheel?  Rhetorical of course.  Be careful out there

[Ridgeratt]

Looks like some Idaho meat processors are not accepting any deer from a CWD area.



https://bonnersferryherald.com/news/2024/oct/17/local-butcher-shops-adapt-as-cwd-raises-concerns-a/

Wild game processors adapt to CWD's spread

A healthy white-tailed deer.
Idaho Fish and Game

by HAILEY HILL
Hagadone News Network | October 17, 2024 1:00 AM
This year’s deer hunting season will look a little different for North Idaho wild game processors after cases of chronic wasting disease were confirmed in the Bonners Ferry deer population. 

CWD is a neurological disease found in deer, elk and moose that causes degeneration of the animal’s brain, resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily function and eventually death. 

Woods Meat Processing in Sandpoint still plans to process wild game — however, the shop will not accept any carcasses from CWD zones, which are designated by Idaho Fish and Game. Additionally, a negative CWD test is required for harvested, boneless meat. 

“If anybody tells you they’re not doing anything different, that’s not a good thing,” said Jody Russell, co-owner of Woods Meat Processing. 

Mike Edgehouse, who operates a mobile meat processing business called Primal Edge Pursuits, believes working exclusively with wild game — and one animal at a time — is what will allow him to avoid potential for contamination. 

“I think those who do both domestic and wild game are in a much tougher position,” Edgehouse said. 

Such was the case for Mountain View Custom Meats, a Coeur d’Alene shop that stopped processing wild game meat two years ago when the first case of CWD was confirmed in Idaho. 

Since the shop is located on private property, owner Kevin Trosclair explained, they did not want to risk CWD prions getting into the property’s groundwater and infecting nearby wildlife and livestock. 

“We decided from a safety standpoint that we don’t want to have that in our shop,” Trosclair said. 

Idaho Fish and Game has designated Units 14, 18, and a portion of unit 1, the portion of Boundary County east of the Selkirk Mountains crest, as CWD Management Zones as of Oct. 1. IFG prohibits the transport of whole deer, elk or moose carcasses out of these zones. 

Mandatory sampling is required for all mule deer and white-tailed deer harvested in units 14, 18, 23, 24, 32A, and the same portion of unit 1, according to IFG 2024 CWD Hunting Rules. 

Any-weapon hunting for white-tailed deer opens Oct. 10.

[dilleytech]

Imagine being a meat processor and taking a CWD deer and spreading that meat around and mixing it with a couple dozen other peoples animals. Must be stressful. Buy a grinder

[Ridgeratt]

Imagine being a meat processor and taking a CWD deer and spreading that meat around and mixing it with a couple dozen other peoples animals. Must be stressful. Buy a grinder

Or the person who knows they took a deer from an area that is "suspect" and then when dropping it off at the shop and tells the butcher that it wasn't from the area. The butcher takes the hunter at his word. Then he grinds the meat and the next person gets residue from the grinder. They may not grind all the meat together but once they grind yours the next batch is run.

[bigtex]

Many states with long confirmed CWD are killing and consuming hundreds of thousands of deer.  Why is WDFW reinventing the wheel?  Rhetorical of course.  Be careful out there

The issue in this thread is in Idaho not WDFW

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[Ridgeratt]

The issue in this thread is in Idaho not WDFW

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


[/quote]



Granted this is Idaho, But how many people are hunting Idaho and Montana?


https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/diseases/chronic-wasting/surveillance-program#safety

CWD has not been shown to infect people, but research is still ongoing, and it is not known for certain if people can get infected with this disease. While CWD has not been associated with human disease, there is a theoretical risk to people who eat an infected animal. As a precaution, the Washington State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people do not eat any animal that tests positive for CWD or appears to have CWD. WDFW and DOH also advise hunters to:

Avoid harvesting any animal that appears sick or behaves strangely.
Wear eye protection and disposable gloves while field dressing game.
Thoroughly wash hands and equipment after processing carcasses.
Minimize handling parts where the CWD prions accumulate, including the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, pancreas, tonsils, and lymph nodes.
Avoid cutting through bone, brain, or spinal cord.
Disinfect processing tools by soaking in household bleach (>2% free chlorine) at a 40% solution (with water) for a minimum of five minutes. Remove any tissue pieces from tools before soaking and rinse tools after soaking.
Safely discard inedible parts and any positive meat using one of the recommended methods listed on the WDFW website. Tissues from CWD-positive animals can contaminate the environment and infect other cervids. Do not dispose of infected materials on the landscape or feed to pets.


Then it has been confirmed that Mad Cow has been detected in humans in England.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob (KROITS-felt YAH-kobe) disease,
 It is also confirmed that 4 people have been diagnosed with a strain of bird flu in the center of the state.

https://www.koin.com/news/washington/washington-investigating-first-ever-presumptive-human-bird-flu-cases/



What could possibly go wrong.

[CarbonHunter]

Isn’t it already policy that licensed butchers have to stop and clean and disinfect all equipment after cutting and grinding wild game before they can go back to cutting livestock?

It was also my understanding that they typically mix wild game grind with others but that could depend on the individual shop. So you could be getting someone else’s meat in your grind bags.

[Ridgeratt]

Isn’t it already policy that licensed butchers have to stop and clean and disinfect all equipment after cutting and grinding wild game before they can go back to cutting livestock?

It was also my understanding that they typically mix wild game grind with others but that could depend on the individual shop. So you could be getting someone else’s meat in your grind bags.

You are correct that a shop who cuts wild game and livestock have to have separate coolers for them. commercial beef needs to be usda inspected but I don't believe that the farm beef you take in is required to be inspected either. They also have to clean then equipment prior to cutting.  They might not mix your grind with others. But once they start to grind wild the tote you have will get ran and then they will grind the next tote. I can't speak for the shop you go to. They will weigh the amount of your tote and process it.