Current:Home > My2 hunters may have died of prion disease from eating contaminated deer meat, researchers say -DollarDynamic
2 hunters may have died of prion disease from eating contaminated deer meat, researchers say
View
Date:2025-04-12 14:38:07
Researchers have drawn a possible link between the deaths of two hunters in the last couple of years from a rare neurological condition. A report, authored by medical experts from the University of Texas at San Antonio and published earlier this month in the clinical journal Neurology, suggests the men contracted it by consuming venison from deer infected with chronic wasting disease, a degenerative illness not conclusively shown to be transmissible from animals to humans.
Both men hunted at the same lodge and consumed meat from the same deer population before each developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and died soon afterward, the report's authors said. They did not give the lodge's specific location. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is one of several prion diseases — uncommon neurodegenerative disorders affecting humans that are characterized by an abnormal folding of proteins in the brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms broadly mimic those of dementia, although patients afflicted with Creutzfeldt-Jakob deteriorate much more quickly.
The new study centered around the initial death of a 72-year-old man in 2022 who "presented with rapid-onset confusion and aggression," the authors said. That man apparently had a history of eating meat from a deer population known to be infected with chronic wasting disease. His friend, who had eaten venison from the same deer population, died later from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The friend's death came within a month of him developing symptoms typical of the illness, like seizures and agitation, according to the study, and a postmortem ultimately confirmed his diagnosis with a variant form of it called sCJDMM1. Authors said that finding may point to "a possible novel animal-to-human transmission of CWD," although they acknowledged it did not definitely prove that consuming venison from a deer infected with chronic wasting disease eventually caused Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in any human being. But that possibility could not be definitively ruled out, either.
"Although causation remains unproven, this cluster emphasizes the need for further investigation into the potential risks of consuming CWD-infected deer and its implications for public health," they said in the report. CBS News contacted the report's lead author for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Prion diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, can have long incubation periods but progress rapidly once symptoms start to present themselves and are always fatal. While they are not well understood, exposure to certain pathogens that then trigger the brain proteins to fold is believed to be the cause.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is thought to emerge in four different ways: sporadically, the most common form, where someone develops the disease without a clear trigger; by inheriting certain genetic changes that cause prion proteins to develop; through contaminated medical instruments used during surgeries or other medical procedures, which is rare; and through consumption of contaminated beef, which is even rarer.
A variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has long been tied to eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which is another prion disorder. The connection between the infections in cattle and humans who ate beef from those cattle gained international attention when it was recognized publicly by government health officials in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, following a string of disease outbreaks.
Even though chronic wasting disease falls, along with mad cow, under the umbrella of prion disorders affecting animals, experts have said no strong evidence exists to indicate that prions seen in chronic wasting disease can infect humans. Some big questions remain about the disease's transmission across species though, and there have been a few experimental studies that suggest, at least, that chronic wasting disease is transmissible to primates. The CDC writes in a discussion about prion transmission that, however experimental, those studies "raise the concern that CWD may pose a risk to people and suggest that it is important to prevent human exposures to CWD."
Chronic wasting disease has been reported in free-ranging deer, elk and moose in 32 states across the continental U.S. and four Canadian provinces, as well as in some farmed deer and elk, according to the CDC. The agency has noted that the overall occurrence of the disease nationwide is relatively low, but it can spread quickly through populations where it has been established, and, in the event that it is established, "the risk can remain for a long time in the environment."
Several hundred deer have tested positive for the disease in Minnesota over the last 20 years or so, mainly in the southeastern part of the state, CBS Minnesota reported. Last year, experts said a captive deer in Wisconsin tested positive for the illness just a few months before officials in Yellowstone National Park announced they had detected the disease in a deer in that area for the first time.
- In:
- Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Hunting
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She covers breaking news, often focusing on crime and extreme weather. Emily Mae has previously written for outlets including the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
Twitter InstagramveryGood! (2954)
Related
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Lawsuit dropped after school board changes course, adopts Youngkin’s transgender student policy
- Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh plans to expand with a $45 million event venue
- This camera revolutionized photography. Whatever happened to the Kodak Instamatic?
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Harry Jowsey Jokes About Stage Marriage With DWTS Pro Rylee Arnold After Being Called Lovebirds
- Pulse nightclub property to be purchased by city of Orlando and turned into a memorial
- Down, but not out: Two Argentine political veterans seek to thwart upstart populist
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Pennsylvania lawmakers chip away at stalemate, pass bill to boost hospital and ambulance subsidies
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- Sen. Bob Menendez’s co-defendants, including his wife, plead not guilty to revised bribery charges
- Czech government survives no-confidence vote in Parliament sought by populist ex-prime minister
- Why John Stamos Hated Ex Rebecca Romijn During Painful Divorce
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Workers noticed beam hanging off railcar days before fatal accident but didn’t tell the railroad
- Sen. Bob Menendez’s co-defendants, including his wife, plead not guilty to revised bribery charges
- Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh plans to expand with a $45 million event venue
Recommendation
Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
Step Inside Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian’s Nursery for Baby Boy Barker
Sen. Maria Cantwell says she wants any NIL legislation to also address NCAA athletes' rights
2 children die in an early morning fire at a Middle Tennessee home
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
'Dimple maker' trend is taking over TikTok, but could it cause permanent damage?
United Airlines rolling out plan that lets passengers in economy class with window seats board first
'Keep it going': Leading ALCS, Rangers get Max Scherzer return for Game 3 vs. Astros