bearcat
01-10-2005, 11:03 AM
Bovine TB sickens 1st human
http://www.detnews.com/2005/health/0501/07/B01-53341.htm
A hunter contracted it from deer caught in Alcona Co.; careful field
dressing is urged.
Friday, January 7, 2005
Hunter contracts TB from deer
Bovine strain of the disease is transmitted through hand cut during field dressing
By Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News
State officials are warning deer hunters and people who eat venison to take precautions in the wake of the first confirmed case of a person getting bovine tuberculosis from an infected Michigan deer.
The victim, a man whom officials declined to identify, is in good condition and is expected to recover fully after receiving antibiotic treatment. He contracted the disease when he accidentally cut his hand while field dressing an infected deer in October. His condition was confirmed through test results last week and announced Thursday by the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The hunter killed the animal in Alcona County, the center of an area where the state has battled to control a TB outbreak in deer and cattle since 1994. His hometown was not revealed.
"I have never been aware that it could be passed to humans," said avid deer hunter Jeff Fall, 42, of Dexter. "I really didn't believe it could be contracted that way. This is not good."
Fall is a medical equipment salesman who participates with an estimated 800,000 other hunters in the state in every deer hunting season, from bow hunting in the fall through the firearms and special-area seasons that just ended.
"I'm deer hunting from Oct. 1 to Jan. 2, or as much as my wife will allow," he said. "It's so easy to get nicked while dressing an animal.
"You are working in a tight space with a super-sharp knife, and there are a lot of sharp ends, too, with broken ribs and all from the bullet."
The discovery of the disease in a human raised the specter of a further decline in hunting in some parts of the state.
Tourism in northeast Michigan already has taken a $25 million-a-year hit due to a downturn in hunting there since the mid-1990s, according to the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
"There should never be any concern of anyone visiting that area. It's beautiful there. It's really God's country," Bridget Patrick, head of the state agriculture department's animal TB eradication program, said.
"We need to get rid of this disease, and those businesses will recover."
State officials have urged hunters who believe they might have had contact with an infected animal to visit their doctors for a simple TB skin test. They also have urged precautions when handling kills and preparing venison. The infected hunter sought help early after he noticed lesions inside the deer's chest and lungs.
"We want people to know there is a risk, a very low risk, but they should take precautions," Patrick said. "Since 1995, bovine tuberculosis has been found in 483 deer in Michigan, and this transfer to humans has never been confirmed before.""This is not a big scary thing," said Dan Grooms, a veterinarian and associate professor at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "It is a low-prevalence disease that used to be a real problem in the world. ... Today, it is extremely rare in a human, and we have good treatments." Nonetheless, hunters are encouraged to wear gloves when field dressing their kills.
"We want people to continue to hunt, especially in the historically infected area because we want to thin that herd," Patrick said.
Part of the effort to control the spread of the disease came in banning baiting in some areas. Violators have been ticketed and ordered to pay fines of from $100 to $1,000.
But, Fall said he's seen plenty of cheating on baiting rules, with piles of carrots and sugar beets dumped in the woods to draw animals in for the kill.
"The message to me is, don't hunt in the infected areas. I've still seen huge bait piles where people are virtually feeding deer herds. It's not letting infected animals die, and it's putting them nose to nose on feed lots where they pass the disease."
Ten human cases of bovine tuberculosis have been known in the state since 1995. All 10 victims came from foreign counties where they drank unpasteurized milk or where elderly people grew up on farms before the common use of pasteurization. An autopsy on an elderly man who died in 2002 also found to the same kind of bovine tuberculosis seen in Michigan deer.
"Things have been quiet for a couple of years, but now with this fellow being infected, it reminds us that is a real problem," said Sam Washington, director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
You can reach Doug Guthrie at (313) 222-2359 or dguthrie@detnews.com. Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture
------------
. Although commercially prepared meats are inspected, privately prepared foods aren't. Venison jerky is smoked at a temperature that likely isn't high enough to kill bacteria.
. It is possible for the disease to be passed between human beings, by airborne bacteria from sneezing or coughing.
State officials are warning deer hunters and people who eat venison to take precautions in the wake of the first confirmed case of a person getting bovine tuberculosis from an infected Michigan deer.
Reprinted under Fair Use http://frybread-hut.com/fbhdocs/fair_use_notice.htm
http://www.detnews.com/2005/health/0501/07/B01-53341.htm
A hunter contracted it from deer caught in Alcona Co.; careful field
dressing is urged.
Friday, January 7, 2005
Hunter contracts TB from deer
Bovine strain of the disease is transmitted through hand cut during field dressing
By Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News
State officials are warning deer hunters and people who eat venison to take precautions in the wake of the first confirmed case of a person getting bovine tuberculosis from an infected Michigan deer.
The victim, a man whom officials declined to identify, is in good condition and is expected to recover fully after receiving antibiotic treatment. He contracted the disease when he accidentally cut his hand while field dressing an infected deer in October. His condition was confirmed through test results last week and announced Thursday by the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The hunter killed the animal in Alcona County, the center of an area where the state has battled to control a TB outbreak in deer and cattle since 1994. His hometown was not revealed.
"I have never been aware that it could be passed to humans," said avid deer hunter Jeff Fall, 42, of Dexter. "I really didn't believe it could be contracted that way. This is not good."
Fall is a medical equipment salesman who participates with an estimated 800,000 other hunters in the state in every deer hunting season, from bow hunting in the fall through the firearms and special-area seasons that just ended.
"I'm deer hunting from Oct. 1 to Jan. 2, or as much as my wife will allow," he said. "It's so easy to get nicked while dressing an animal.
"You are working in a tight space with a super-sharp knife, and there are a lot of sharp ends, too, with broken ribs and all from the bullet."
The discovery of the disease in a human raised the specter of a further decline in hunting in some parts of the state.
Tourism in northeast Michigan already has taken a $25 million-a-year hit due to a downturn in hunting there since the mid-1990s, according to the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
"There should never be any concern of anyone visiting that area. It's beautiful there. It's really God's country," Bridget Patrick, head of the state agriculture department's animal TB eradication program, said.
"We need to get rid of this disease, and those businesses will recover."
State officials have urged hunters who believe they might have had contact with an infected animal to visit their doctors for a simple TB skin test. They also have urged precautions when handling kills and preparing venison. The infected hunter sought help early after he noticed lesions inside the deer's chest and lungs.
"We want people to know there is a risk, a very low risk, but they should take precautions," Patrick said. "Since 1995, bovine tuberculosis has been found in 483 deer in Michigan, and this transfer to humans has never been confirmed before.""This is not a big scary thing," said Dan Grooms, a veterinarian and associate professor at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "It is a low-prevalence disease that used to be a real problem in the world. ... Today, it is extremely rare in a human, and we have good treatments." Nonetheless, hunters are encouraged to wear gloves when field dressing their kills.
"We want people to continue to hunt, especially in the historically infected area because we want to thin that herd," Patrick said.
Part of the effort to control the spread of the disease came in banning baiting in some areas. Violators have been ticketed and ordered to pay fines of from $100 to $1,000.
But, Fall said he's seen plenty of cheating on baiting rules, with piles of carrots and sugar beets dumped in the woods to draw animals in for the kill.
"The message to me is, don't hunt in the infected areas. I've still seen huge bait piles where people are virtually feeding deer herds. It's not letting infected animals die, and it's putting them nose to nose on feed lots where they pass the disease."
Ten human cases of bovine tuberculosis have been known in the state since 1995. All 10 victims came from foreign counties where they drank unpasteurized milk or where elderly people grew up on farms before the common use of pasteurization. An autopsy on an elderly man who died in 2002 also found to the same kind of bovine tuberculosis seen in Michigan deer.
"Things have been quiet for a couple of years, but now with this fellow being infected, it reminds us that is a real problem," said Sam Washington, director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
You can reach Doug Guthrie at (313) 222-2359 or dguthrie@detnews.com. Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture
------------
. Although commercially prepared meats are inspected, privately prepared foods aren't. Venison jerky is smoked at a temperature that likely isn't high enough to kill bacteria.
. It is possible for the disease to be passed between human beings, by airborne bacteria from sneezing or coughing.
State officials are warning deer hunters and people who eat venison to take precautions in the wake of the first confirmed case of a person getting bovine tuberculosis from an infected Michigan deer.
Reprinted under Fair Use http://frybread-hut.com/fbhdocs/fair_use_notice.htm