Chronic Wasting

This is not good news.

"Ever since chronic wasting disease was detected in Wisconsin nearly four years ago, hunters were reassured that they could greatly reduce their risk of getting the deadly neurological disorder by avoiding tissue from the brain and central nervous system of the animal.

Muscle tissue never has been shown to be infective, officials said.

Not anymore.

Researchers whose work was published today in the journal Science say they have found infectious prions - the agents that are believed to cause chronic wasting disease - in the leg muscles of infected mule deer, a finding that's likely to raise concerns among many of the hundreds of thousands of deer hunters in Wisconsin.

'This shows muscle contains infected material,' said senior author Glenn Telling, an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Kentucky. 'Anybody who may be handling or eating infected deer may be inadvertently exposed.'"