Masks Recommended For Cleaning Deer?

At least one government agency is recommending wearing a mask when cleaning deer.

According to an article in USA Today, officials with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services issued an updated list of guidance for hunters that included the following.

“Hunters are always encouraged to use good hygiene practices when processing animals to reduce their risk of exposure to many possible disease agents. Incorporating a few additional measures can also help to reduce their risk of possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

The article notes the Department did not say deer could spread COVID-19 to humans but gave some safety suggestions.

The list includes three new measures: wearing a mask while field dressing deer; limit cutting into and handling the deer’s lungs, throat, and mouth/nasal cavity to only what is necessary (for example, submitting a head for CWD testing); and if you are immunocompromised, consider asking for assistance with carcass processing and handling.

At the time of this writing, it seems the department has taken those recommendations off their site (we couldn’t find them) but the story made big news across the Midwest late last week with multiple sources documenting the story.

This came in response to COVD-19 being found in wild deer in Ohio and other states as documented by the USDA.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) today announced confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in wild white-tailed deer in Ohio. These are the first deer confirmed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide, although earlier studies have shown both that deer can be experimentally infected with the virus and that some wild deer had antibodies to the virus.

You can read that story we published here.

Samples from the deer were collected between January and March 2021 by The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine as part of ongoing deer damage management activities. There were no reports of any deer showing clinical signs of infection.

Samples from the deer tested presumptive positive at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the cases were confirmed at NVSL. NVSL serves as an international reference laboratory and provides expertise and guidance on diagnostic techniques, as well as confirmatory testing for foreign and emerging animal diseases. Such testing is required for certain animal diseases in the United States in order to comply with national and international reporting procedures. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) considers SARS-CoV-2 an emerging disease, and therefore USDA must report confirmed U.S. animal infections to the OIE.

SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in a small number of animal species worldwide, mostly in animals that had close contact with a person with COVID-19. At this time, routine testing of animals is not recommended.

What do you think about the idea of wearing a mask while cleaning deer?

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