Hunters can protect against chronic wasting disease

Harrisburg, Pa. — With the 2019 hunting season underway in Pennsylvania, the Department of Agriculture released recommended best management practices to help protect hunters and their families against Chronic Wasting Disease.

Since being identified in Pennsylvania, hunters have had a heightened awareness of the fatal neurological disease that can affect deer, elk, moose, and caribou.

The following are voluntary best management practices, recommended to be adopted by Pennsylvania’s hunters and processors:

• Do not shoot, handle or eat meat from wild deer or elk that look sick, are acting strangely or are found dead. However, keep in mind that most infected deer do not look or act sick.
• Report any sightings of sick or abnormal-acting wild deer or elk to the PA Game Commission.
• If you are hunting in or near a disease management area, place your deer’s head in PA Game Commission collection containers to submit it for testing.
• If you have your deer or elk commercially processed, consider asking that your animal be processed separately to avoid mixing meat from multiple animals.
• It is recommended that processors take extra care to thoroughly clean equipment after processing each wild deer.

When field-dressing or processing deer:

• Wear latex or rubber gloves.
• Minimize how much you handle the organs, particularly brain or spinal cord tissue.
• Do not use household knives or other kitchen utensils for field dressing.
• Double bag high-risk parts and dispose of in an approved landfill.

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• How to take precautions against chronic wasting disease this deer season