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Prion diseases, including chronic wasting disease (CWD), are caused by prions, which are misfolded aggregates of normal cellular prion protein. Prions possess many characteristics that distinguish them from conventional pathogens, in particular, an extraordinary recalcitrance to inactivation and a propensity to avidly bind to surfaces. In middle to late stages of CWD, prions begin accumulating in cervid muscle tissues. Those features collectively create scenarios in which occupational hazards arise for workers processing venison and pose risks to consumers through direct prion exposure through ingestion and cross-contamination of food products. In this study, we demonstrate that steel and plastic surfaces used in venison processing can be directly contaminated with CWD prions and that cross-contamination of CWD-negative venison can occur from equipment that had previously been used with CWD-positive venison. We also show that several decontaminant solutions (commercial bleach and potassium peroxymonosulfate) are efficacious for prion inactivation on those same surfaces.

This article focuses on the development possibilities of the venison market in the Czech Republic. The main factors affecting the primary game market were investigated, both production limitations on the side of the hunters and on the side of the game production purchase prices. These factors were analysed in the context of the consumer prices of general meat production and the purchase prices of common meat (beef, pork). Furthermore, the size of the total game market was estimated, taking into account the export and import of this commodity. The potential venison market size for the Czech Republic was also established in the study. The gap between the development of the market consumer prices and purchase prices of the venison was analysed. The conducted research further revealed that the respondents do not perceive a relationship between the production of venison and the protection of forest ecosystems. With few exceptions, they do not realise that by buying and consuming venison, they can contribute to the support of forestry. Furthermore, the perception of the role of the forest environment in relation to game meat by the public does not correspond to the need to regulate the game density to limit damage to forest stands. The results of this research are recommendations which mainly consist in expanding the offer of the primary production to products significantly closer to the consumer market (moving from a producer market to a consumer market), and the implementation of activation campaigns (tastings, presentations of opinion makers). At the same time, our work revealed the need for further development, and by increasing the value for the customer who, with the appropriate marketing strategy, can perceive this product as a premium organic food through which they contribute to sustainable forest management.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans, has a broad host range, and is able to infect domestic and wild animal species. Notably, white-tailed deer (WTD, Odocoileus virginianus ), the most widely distributed cervid species in the Americas, were shown to be highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 in challenge studies and reported natural infection/exposure rates approaching 30–40% in free-ranging WTD in the U.S. Thus, understanding the infection and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD is critical to prevent future zoonotic transmission to humans, at the human-WTD interface during hunting or venison farming, and for implementation of effective disease control measures. Here, we demonstrated that following intranasal inoculation with SARS-CoV-2 B.1 lineage, WTD fawns (~8-month-old) shed infectious virus up to day 5 post-inoculation (pi), with high viral loads shed in nasal and oral secretions. This resulted in efficient deer-to-deer transmission on day 3 pi. Consistent a with lack of infectious SARS-CoV-2 shedding after day 5 pi, no transmission was observed to contact animals added on days 6 and 9 pi. We have also investigated the tropism and sites of SARS-CoV-2 replication in adult WTD (3–4 years of age). Infectious virus was detected up to day 6 pi in nasal secretions, and from various respiratory-, lymphoid-, and central nervous system tissues, indicating broad tissue tropism and multiple sites of virus replication. The study provides important insights on the infection and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD, a wild animal species that is highly susceptible to infection and with the potential to become a reservoir for the virus in the field.

Wild-harvested meat, defined as meat obtained through legal hunting of free-ranging wildlife, has been part of the food system for most of human existence. Nonetheless, description and measurement of current roles wild-harvested meat plays in nonsubsistence communities is lacking. To better understand this system and inform policy choices, we sought to identify characteristics of consumers, their consumption patterns, and how wild-harvested meat is distributed through society including opportunities and barriers to consumption. As part of a longstanding quarterly telephone survey with standardized protocol aimed at providing statistically robust representations of the Michigan, USA, population, we asked questions about wild-harvested meat. We estimate a majority of the current Michigan population (75% [95% CI = 71–78%]) and nonhunter population (59% [95% CI = 54–65%]) have consumed wild-harvested meat at least once in their life. Never having had an opportunity (22% [95% CI = 15–30%]), diet or lifestyle (16% [95% CI = 10–24%]), and taste or smell (14% [95% CI = 9–20%]) were the 3 reasons most frequently reported by nonhunters for never consuming wild-harvested meat. Thirty-three wildlife species were reported consumed, of which venison was the most common (96% [95% CI = 94–98%]). Among the general population, frequency of consumption during the 12 months prior to our survey was as follows: 28% (95% CI = 25–32%) never had previously consumed venison; 23% (95% CI = 20–26%) reported having consumed it, but not in the 12 months prior to the survey; 20% (95% CI = 17–23%) had consumed it once or twice in the 12 months prior to the survey; 15% (95% CI = 12–18%) had consumed it 3–10 times in the 12 months prior to the survey; and 14% (95% CI = 12–17%) had consumed it >10 times in the 12 months prior to the survey. Hunters’ social networks played a key role in distribution of wild-harvested meat. Hunting experience, social network, and race were the only influential predictors of wild-harvested meat consumption. Hunting experience, social network, and level of urbanization of residence were the only influential predictors of frequency of venison consumption. Results identified pathways for movement of wild-harvested meat in human food systems and could inform policy that addresses wild-harvested meat.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease circulating in wild and farmed cervid populations throughout North America (United States and Canada), Europe (Finland, Norway, Sweden), and South Korea. CWD is a long-term threat to all cervid populations and to cervid hunting heritage, with the potential to cause substantial economic losses across multiple sectors. In North America, hunting and farming industries focused on the processing and consumption of white-tailed deer (WTD) venison are particularly vulnerable to CWD prion contamination, as millions of WTD are consumed annually. Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) is a highly sensitive assay amplifying misfolded CWD prions in vitro and has facilitated CWD prion detection in a variety of tissues and excreta. To date, no study has comprehensively examined CWD prion content across bulk skeletal muscle tissues harvested from individual CWD infected WTD. Here, we use RT-QuIC to characterize prion-seeding activity in a variety of skeletal muscles from both wild and farmed CWD-positive WTD. We successfully detected CWD prions in muscles commonly used for consumption (e.g., backstrap, tenderloin, etc.) as well as within tongue and neck samples of WTD. Our results suggest that CWD prions are distributed across the skeletal muscles of infected WTD. We posit that RT-QuIC will be a useful tool for monitoring CWD prions in venison and that the method (with additional protocol optimization and high-throughput functionality) could be used to reduce and/or prevent CWD prions from entering animal and human food chains.

In order to investigate the nutritional processing quality of sika deer (Cervus nippon) venison at different sites, the pH24 h, tenderness, pressurized water loss rate, meat color, intramuscular fat, moisture, protein, amino acid, fatty acid and squalene contents of sika deer venison were determined in twelve sites: foreleg, hind leg, outer tenderloin, rump, neck meat, chest meat, deer flank, abdominal rib, high rib, tenderloin, anterior tendon and posterior tendon. The results showed that the pH24 h of sika deer venison at different sites was 5.49~5.78; the tenderness of outer tenderloin (31.71 N) was the lowest, and the neck meat (68.53 N) was the highest; the squeezing moisture of tenderloin (28.12%) was the largest, and the foreleg (12.34%) was the smallest; the brightness of outer tenderloin L* (29.68) was the lowest, and the redness a* and yellowness b* of deer flank were the highest; the intramuscular fat and moisture were 0.66~4.97% and 71.00~73.78%, respectively; and the protein content of outer tenderloin (23.44%) and rump (24.02%) was high. The venison meat contained 17 kinds of amino acids, and the total amount was 63.87~79.33 g/100 g. It was rich in essential amino acids, mainly lysine and leucine, accounting for 64.29~65.39% of non-essential amino acids, which was close to the ideal protein composition. Palmitoleic acid and oleic acid were the main monounsaturated fatty acids in venison, and the contents of abdominal ribs were the highest, 16,875.33 mg/kg and 31,772.73 mg/kg, respectively. The contents of essential fatty acids were also the highest in abdominal ribs (11,225.37 mg/kg); forelegs, hind legs, outer tenderloins, rumps, neck meat, chest meat, high rib, tenderloins, anterior tendons and posterior tendons were all good sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Squalene content was highest in the abdominal rib (100.85 mg/kg). The nutritional processing quality of sika deer venison in different muscles is significantly different, and this study can provide a data basis for the evaluation and processing of sika deer venison quality.

Orally delivered, host-targeted, systemic acaricide treatment has potential to be an effective areawide tick abatement strategy. Past efforts using ivermectin for livestock were reported effective at controlling both Amblyomma americanum (L.) and Ixodes scapularis Say on Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann). However, the labeled 48-day withdrawal period for human consumption largely prevented utilization of this strategy targeting I. scapularis in autumn, when peak adult host-seeking activity coincides with regulated white-tailed deer hunting seasons. The modern-day compound moxidectin is the active ingredient in the pour-on formulation Cydectin (5 mg moxidectin/ml; Bayer Healthcare LLC), with a labeled 0-day withdrawal period for human consumption of treated cattle. We sought to re-examine the systemic acaricide approach for tick management by determining if we could successfully deliver Cydectin to free-ranging white-tailed deer. Over 2 yr in late spring/early summer, coinciding with adult and nymphal A. americanum activity, we fed Cydectin-coated corn to free-ranging white-tailed deer in coastal Connecticut. Through serum analysis, we documented moxidectin levels at or above those previously reported effective for control of ectoparasites (5–8 ppb for moxidectin and ivermectin) in 24 of 29 white-tailed deer captured (83%) while exposed to treated corn. While we did not document differences in burdens of parasitizing A. americanum based on moxidectin sera levels, we did document fewer engorged specimens on deer with increased sera levels. The systemic use of moxidectin for tick management in critical reproductive hosts has the potential to be effective in an areawide capacity while also permitting human consumption of treated venison.

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of sonication with different levels of total acoustic power (250 W and 500 W) on the physicochemical and biochemical properties of beef and red deer meat. The parameters related to meat colour, surface myoglobin forms, antioxidant properties and the level of fat and protein oxidation were analysed. The results showed that the sonication significantly affected meat colour, myoglobin forms, antioxidant capacity, and oxidative markers, particularly in beef. Beef treated with 500 W sonication exhibited a significant decrease in redness ( a * value reduced by 20%) and increase in yellowness ( b * value increased by 21.5%), resulting in a total colour difference ( ΔE *) increase of 3.42 ± 0.35 units compared to controls. Red deer meat changes were less evident, with a notable rise in oxymyoglobin content (%OMb increased by 7.85%) at 500 W. Protein carbonyl content decreased by 12.4% and 6.9% after sonication at 250 W and 500 W respectively. TBARS values were lower in beef than in deer meat; 250 W sonication reduced TBARS by 29.5% in case of beef and 13.58% in red deer meat, whereas 500 W increased lipid oxidation by 6.5% and 4% respectively. The antioxidant activity of the studied meat extracts increased after the application of 500 W sonication. In conclusion regardless of the type of meat, the highest oxidative stability is demonstrated by samples that were exposed to sonication at a total acoustic power level of 250 W. In addition, red deer meat is less susceptible to sonication process than beef. This study advances understanding of sonication effects on meat quality, providing insights that can improve processing techniques and extend product shelf life.