Travel History, Hunting, and Venison Consumption Related to Prion Disease Exposure, 2006-2007 FoodNet Population Survey

• Published in: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2011-06, Vol.111 (6), p.858-863
• Main Authors: Abrams, Joseph Y., MPH, Maddox, Ryan A., MPH, Harvey, Alexis R., MPH, Schonberger, Lawrence B., MD, Belay, Ermias D., MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Animals, Wild; Biological and medical sciences; Catchment Area (Health); Cattle; Cervidae; Child; Child, Preschool; Deer; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Disease transmission; Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform - epidemiology; Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform - transmission; Europe; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Food Contamination; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Humans; Hunting; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Internal Medicine; Male; Meat; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurology; Polls & surveys; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; Prion Diseases - epidemiology; Prion Diseases - transmission; Prion Diseases - veterinary; Prions; Risk Factors; Spongiform encephalopathies; Travel; United States; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Wasting Disease, Chronic - epidemiology; Wasting Disease, Chronic - transmission; Young Adult; Zoonoses
• ISSN: 0002-8223; 2212-2672; 1878-3570; 2212-2680
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2011.03.015

Abstract The transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to human beings and the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among cervids have prompted concerns about zoonotic transmission of prion diseases. Travel to the United Kingdom and other European countries, hunting for deer or elk, and venison consumption could result in the exposure of US residents to the agents that cause BSE and CWD. The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network 2006-2007 population survey was used to assess the prevalence of these behaviors among residents of 10 catchment areas across the United States. Of 17,372 survey respondents, 19.4% reported travel to the United Kingdom since 1980, and 29.5% reported travel to any of the nine European countries considered to be BSE-endemic since 1980. The proportion of respondents who had ever hunted deer or elk was 18.5%, and 1.2% had hunted deer or elk in a CWD–endemic area. More than two thirds (67.4%) reported having ever eaten deer or elk meat. Respondents who traveled spent more time in the United Kingdom (median 14 days) than in any other BSE-endemic country. Of the 11,635 respondents who had consumed venison, 59.8% ate venison at most one to two times during their year of highest consumption, and 88.6% had obtained all of their meat from the wild. The survey results were useful in determining the prevalence and frequency of behaviors that could be important factors for foodborne prion transmission.