Maine Deer Hunting And Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)
October 23, 2009
Deer Hunting and EEE
The greatest Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) risk facing hunters is exposure to mosquitoes, not handling or consuming healthy deer. Although other mammals and birds have been exposed to the EEE virus for decades, there is no evidence that direct contact with these species can infect humans. While human infection is rare, hunters should take extra precautions against EEE by using insect repellents for personal protection from bites until mosquitoes are no longer active and using protective clothing.
Hunters in interior and coastal York County, coastal Cumberland County, Kennebec, Waldo and Penobscot Counties should:
o Not handle or consume wild animals that appear sick or act abnormally, regardless of the cause. All other deer meat should be cooked thoroughly (170-180 degrees) to kill the EEE virus, should it be present, as well as any other viruses and bacteria.
o Wear heavy rubber or latex gloves when field dressing deer.
o Handle knives carefully to prevent accidental cuts.
o Minimize contact with brain or spinal tissues. Do not cut into the head of any deer that behaved abnormally even to remove the rack. When removing antlers from healthy deer, use a hand saw rather than a power saw, and always wear safety glasses.
o Bone out the carcass, keeping both the head and spine intact.
o Wash hands with soap and water after handling carcasses and before and after handling meat.
o Thoroughly sanitize equipment and work surfaces used during processing with bleach solution (1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon water). Consider keeping a separate set of knives used only for butchering deer.
o Freezing meat will not kill the EEE virus.
o DOGS: While dogs have been reported to have been infected with EEE in a small number of cases, they are not a primary species of concern; transmission of EEE is primarily by mosquito bite. While it would be possible for a dog to contract EEE when retrieving an infected bird, for example, the dog would have to have a cut in its mouth and come into to contact with the bird’s blood.
The appearance of EEE in Maine horses this summer prompted the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maine Medical Center, and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a study during the deer hunting season to better understand the distribution of the EEE virus in Maine. Harvested deer will be examined for the presence of EEE by testing their blood for antibodies specific for this virus. Deer are widespread in the state, are susceptible to infection with the EEE virus, and should be a good sentinel of EEE virus activity. Health officials hope to use the survey to map the prevalence of the disease in the state.
Hunters should be aware that the presence of EEE in deer does not affect the meat of the animal and that finding EEE in any of the samples does not indicate an infectious deer, only that there are EEE antibodies present.
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It would often not be apparent to a hunter if a deer is sick. You say people should not consume venison from an unhealthy deer. Sometimes you can’t tell. In the next sentence you say to cook venison well to kill the EEE virus. So if the virus is killed by cooking, why do hunters need to worry about eating an infected deer? My husband is a hunter and I don’t want to tell him the family can’t eat the venison he brought home. Just how dangerous is it?
I think if you reread the information it spells out the answers to the questions you are asking. The advice says you shouldn’t eat or handle game that “appear sick or act abnormally”. The advice is not to handle or eat it when it is obvious something is wrong with the deer.
The same advice tells us that aside from what we CAN’T see, make sure that the meat is handled properly and cooked to the recommended temperatures for safe consuming.
“How common are human cases of EEE in the United States?
In the United States between 1964-2004, 220 human EEE cases were reported to CDC. The national average is five cases per year.”
http://www.ct.gov/mosquito/cwp/view.asp?a=3486&q=415020
As far as I have researched it, it looks like EEE is another ambiguous subject for modern medical science, since it is so infrequent, and not on the list of major causes of public concern….Also, there is no evidence of it being communicable to people other than by a very specific type of mosquito…and most people are immune to it to begin with…
The bylines of concern are almost as generalized for the prevention of CWD , where there have been precautions taken concerning spinal and brain tissue, even though there have not been any confirmed cases of the “virus” “prion” or whatever they are thinking it is, causing the disease in the first human…
In my opinion, that’s a lot of to-do over NOTHING. I never so much as wash my hands after gutting and field dressing deer, just wipe the blood and go from there…In my opinion, and when it comes down to ambiguous science, there is no substitute for good old fashioned “good sense” ….
And deer are at the top of the charts in terms of not being a carrier of any disease that is communicable to man.
Much as you might not like it jes, I agree with you. It’s part of the protect everybody from everything attitude.