can you eat deer with chronic wasting disease

You should not eat deer meat from an animal that has chronic wasting disease (CWD) or is suspected to have it. Health agencies advise avoiding meat from any deer that tests positive for CWD or appears sick or abnormal.

What experts currently say

• Public‑health and wildlife agencies (CDC, WHO, state health departments) recommend not eating meat from any deer, elk, moose, or caribou that tests positive for CWD.

• Guidance also warns against eating animals that look sick, act strangely (“zombie deer”), are found dead, or otherwise raise concern, even before testing.

Human risk and “zombie deer”

• CWD is a prion disease in deer, similar in mechanism to mad cow disease, and is always fatal in affected animals.

• There are no confirmed human CWD cases so far, but a recent report of two hunters who died from prion disease after eating CWD‑positive deer has increased concern about possible transmission to people.

Safe handling and testing basics

• Hunters are urged to test deer for CWD before eating the venison, especially in areas where the disease is known to occur.

• If an animal tests positive, recommendations are to discard the meat and not consume it, and to avoid high‑risk tissues like brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes from any cervid.

Quick takeaway for “can you eat deer with CWD?”

• Technically, some people have eaten CWD‑positive deer without documented illness, but current science cannot guarantee safety and is trending more cautious.

• The strong, up‑to‑date guidance is: treat CWD‑positive or suspicious deer meat as unsafe to eat and dispose of it rather than consuming it.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.