Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in a captive deer in Pennsylvania three weeks ago. A quarantine was put in place so that the bones and brains of deer killed near where the disease was found cannot be taken out of the area in the hope of preventing the spread of the prion-based disease.
This is causing confusion among local hunters, taxidermists and butchers who handle deer meat, an article in the Hanover Evening Sun reports.
One butcher outside of the quarantine area said that he hoped that he would at least have access to venison scraps to make bologna and jerky. He should have access to much more than that. Another expressed willingness to travel inside the quarantine to butcher animals at people’s homes.
Of course, these questions and confusions raise questions of their own, especially since there is no easy way to neutralize a prion.