posted 7 years ago
You're talking about wasting disease? Yes, it is a spongiform disease that affects deer, elk, moose, and I think maybe caribou, but from what I read, there's no known cases of transmission to domesticated animals of similar type, let alone transmission to humans.
I would suggest you stop. Breathe. And then revisit what we know about composting and feeding livestock.
You know that grazing rotationally with poultry following after ruminants after the parasite eggs in the feces hatch will break the parasite cycle. You know that hot composts kill most pathogens. I don't think you really have to worry. I think that if you were eating deer that had grazed among the feces of diseased deer, you'd probably still be okay.
But if you are at all worried, you know what I would do? Feed that deer poop to your worms, or better yet, to Black Soldier Fly Larvae, then worms. Then feed the Black Soldier Fly Larvae to chickens. And maybe the worms to chickens.
I could be wrong (though I don't think I am), but I think that the only case in which transmission is possible is between other wild deer, or perhaps domesticated deer, but there haven't been any cases of affected cattle reported anywhere.
Just to be safe, don't feed infected deer or their feces to an animal you will eat directly, and probably don't go handling deer feces anymore, but I doubt there's any risk of disease from plants exposed to worms that once ate the bacteria eating the infected deer feces.
Also, have there been reports of infected deer in your area? If not, this really isn't something that should concern you.
-CK
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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