Technicians test deer heads for chronic wasting disease at the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. (Photo courtesy of Tony Cepak)

MARQUETTE — Many wild game processors in Michigan have expressed some concern about the contagious chronic wasting disease including the fatal disease’s possible impact on deer hunting participation and their own businesses, a recently published study found.

Yet others said they see no need to worry.

The degenerative disease affects the nervous system of deer and elk, causing infected animals’ brains to deteriorate in a spongy manner, leading to weight loss, unusual behavior, loss of body functions and death, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

“Processors can play a critical role preventing consumption of CWD-positive venison by keeping CWD-positive deer out of their facilities and implementing practices that minimize the risk of cross-contamination,” according to the study by researchers from Michigan State University, MSU Extension, the DNR and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The state has close to 500 licensed processors and an unknown number of unlicensed ones, the study said.

Although no human cases have been reported, medical experts warn against eating meat from infected deer.

CWD-positive deer have been identified in Dickinson County and 12 Lower Peninsula counties, according to the DNR website: Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Jackson, Kent, Midland, Montcalm and Ogemaw.

No new counties have been added this year, DNR wildlife biologist Chad Fedewa said.

“There have been no hunter-submitted samples that have tested positive in the 22 DNR testing counties,” said Melinda Cosgrove, the department’s laboratory scientist manager.

So far this year, seven positives were submitted from other sources to the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, three of them through the donated deer program in Montcalm County. The others were in Ionia and Kent counties, Cosgrove said.

All venison donated to food banks is tested before being approved for human consumption.

The disease in white-tailed deer was discovered in the U.S. in 1981 and first detected in Michigan in 2015. There’s no vaccine or treatment available, and infection can be confirmed only after an animal dies, according to the study in the journal Human Dimensions of Wildlife.

In 2023, the DNR tested just over 4,100 deer with 11 deer testing positive, Cosgrove said. Additional positive deer were found through direct hunter submissions to the MSU lab as well.

For the new study, researchers interviewed 26 processors within and outside CWD zones. Those processors vary in their perceptions of the disease in Michigan’s deer population, the study found.

In interviews, “Processors tended to discuss the fact that CWD is not known to affect human health,” the study said. “Even with similar levels of knowledge, those who expressed few or no perceived risks tended to report little concern about the disease.”

Processors’ concerns fit four major categories: biological in the possible impact on deer herds, recreational for the possible impact on hunting participation, human health, and economic concerns related to effects of reduced hunting on local economies in general and on processors specifically.

“Many fear that the combination of impacts to the herd and subsequent reductions in hunting would negatively impact their livelihoods. Some expressed fear that declines in hunting would put them out of business entirely,” the study said.

“Wild game processors can play a key role in protecting human health by improving their ability to identify and avoid processing CWD-positive deer,” the study said. “While some processors have altered practices to reduce the risk in their facilities, most have not and believe the burden of regulatory compliance lies with hunters.”

For example, it said some processors now require customers to show negative tests before accepting their deer for processing,

According to the study, processors felt that responsibility for managing CWD rests on the shoulders of the state and hunters, while processors continue to follow best sanitary practices at their facilities.

Ryan Walker of Walker’s Butcher Block in Ludington said he’s not concerned about CWD, adding, “I haven’t had a problem with it.”

He said he doesn’t require customers to show a negative test.

As for the DNR’s handling of CWD, “They’ve been doing a good job,” Walker said.

And Rich Altz of Superior Meat Processing in Pelkie, in Baraga County, said he hasn’t run across CWD.

“I’m 59 years old and have been in meat processing all my life. I do a lot of research myself,” Altz said. “We keep a very close eye on everything we do.”

The study quoted one processor who was interviewed, saying, “We don’t struggle to comply with CWD rules because they are just normal sanitation practices. We use separate equipment on saws and only use them on one deer. We clean everything between deer.”

Alexa Warwick, an MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, noted that there’s been little past research about wild game processors’ attitudes.

“We would like to see more regular communication with processors so they’re up to date,” and keeping lines of communication open is important, said Warwick, a co-author of the study. “What we heard processors say they would like ways to have information at their site, at their business, to share with hunters.”

According to the study, processors wanted faster results and cheaper fees to improve testing and reduce delays in their ability to process deer.

Other recommendations included having the DNR color-code deer tags by zone so hunters could easily see what zone they were in. Tags are used to track how many animals are taken.

Warwick noted that “Many hunters don’t hunt where they reside.”

Free testing is available for deer killed in 22 counties that the DNR has designated for “focused head collection and testing efforts.”

Elsewhere, hunters can pay to have their deer tested through the U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved MSU lab and the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Eric Freedman is a professor of journalism and former associate dean of International Studies and Programs at Michigan State University. During his 20-year newspaper career, he covered public affairs, environmental issues and legal affairs for newspapers in New York and Michigan, winning a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of a legislative corruption scandal. He teaches environmental journalism and serves as director of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. He also teaches public affairs reporting, international journalism, feature writing and media law and serves as director of the school’s Capital News Service.