Diseased elk a deadly serious business

Medicinal processing of elk antlers containing living tissue poses risk of European-style epidemic affecting North America's cattle herd

By: Gillian Steward

  The federal government has worked itself into a lather about the supposed dangers lurking in Brazilian beef. But it has been curiously quiet about the outbreak of a disease similar to Mad Cow Disease right in its own backyard.
  Since 1996 14 elk raised on seven different game farms in Saskatchewan have been found to be infected with deadly transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Six were discovered last year alone and agriculture officials have since slaughtered about 1,500 elk in order to contain the outbreak.
  When this disease first appeared in cattle in Britain in the late 1980s it was labelled BSE (Bovine SE). But this disease is not restricted to cows. By definition TSEs are transmissible across species barriers and have been found in many other animals including sheep, deer, mink, giraffes and ostriches. The elk variation is often referred to as chronic wasting disease. TSEs can also be transmitted to humans if they eat meat from infected animals. So far in Europe more than 80 people have died from a TSE (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) contracted from mad cows.
 

TSE - "Mad Cow Disease" - is transmitted by prions, which are non-living and smaller than a virus and almost impossible to get rid of

  Most Canadians don't eat elk meat so TSE in elk doesn't pose the same kind of threat to humans as TSE in cattle. But according to Robin Hughes an eminent biologist who tried to warn the Margaret Thatcher government about the looming BSE epidemic, it would foolish to downplay the risks associated with infected elk. Hughes, an Australian who has held tenured positions in England, Australian and South Africa, edited and published a book about Mad Cow in Britian written by Richard Lacey, chief microbiology advisor to the UK government.
  "The disease is transmitted by prions which are non-living and smaller than a virus and almost impossible to get rid of. They cannot be sterilized by bleaching or autoclaving. They stay in the ground for years. They stick to surgical instruments and farm instruments. They can be transmitted through blood, bone, nerve and placenta tissue long after the original carrier is dead, " said Hughes who now lives in Calgary.
  "If a cow eats grass on which an infected elk has dropped placenta it could contract the disease. It is crucial that farmers know this," Hughes added.
  What does he recommend the federal and provincial governments do about the outbreak of TSE in Canadian elk? "The herds should be slaughtered. The land where infected animals have lived should be quarantined for at least 20 years. Bringing stock of any kind back to infected land after just three years is a disaster, and this has been proven in many countries."
 

With 30,000 game farm elk in Canada, the potential of TSE getting into cattle from infected elk is quite real. The potential losses are "simply staggering".

  "Elk farmers will complain, but this has to happen…and the government has to pay compensation for the lost herds and quarantined land," said Hughes who has been studying TSEs for almost 20 years. "The government also has to give authoritative statements to the public. The potential losses from TSE getting into cattle in Canada and the USA are simply staggering..."
  To put this in perspective it's important to know that the commercial elk industry has grown by leaps and bounds across Canada during the past ten years. There are now approximately 30,000 elk behind game farm fences in Alberta, more than in the wild. Saskatchewan and Quebec are not far behind. The game farms sell breeding stock among themselves. In the west they are often located near cattle ranches. And it is not uncommon for elk to escape the fences and return to the wild.
  But that's not the only worry. Commercialized elk are raised mainly for their antlers. Each year male elk grow a rack of antlers that can weigh as much as 40 pounds. According to Asian folk medicine when the antlers begin to sprout in the spring they are full of potent enzymes that enhance human sexual performance and general health. So each spring the game farmers saw off the sprouting antlers - also known as velvet antler because they are soft cartilage, full of blood and nerve tissue and covered by a fuzzy coat. The antler is then ground up and sold as a powdered aphrodisiac and health tonic mainly in Korea, China and Japan.
  The efficacy of the powder has never been scientifically proven. But according to some industry experts the Canadian velvet antler business is worth $80 million annually. Most of it is exported to Korea but it can also be found on the shelves of Canadian health food stores.
  Biologist Hughes and Canadian wildlife expert, Valerius Geist, professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Calgary, both contend that if the powdered antler came from an infected elk it could contain the deadly prion which could then infect the person who consumes it.
  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has acknowledged this too. Last October, it destroyed velvet antler taken from animals known to have TSE. It is also establishing an accreditation program so only game farms proven to be TSE-free can export. But the CFIA has not recalled velvet previously taken from diseased animals and has made no attempt to warn consumers of the threat. In the meantime, Korea has banned all imports of velvet antler.
  It would be easier to control this disease, and determine which game farms are TSE-free, if there were a preventive vaccine or a live animal test that confirmed it was infected. But neither has yet been developed. So far the disease can only be confirmed by examining the brain tissue of dead animals. Consequently, agriculture officials in Alberta and Saskatchewan regularly conduct grisly examinations of the heads of elk that die on game farms, as well as those shot in the wild by hunters.
  The recent outbreak of TSE in Saskatchewan elk followed an outbreak in neighbouring Montana last year. Eighty elk from one game farm that had been in contact with the infected animal were euthanized and incinerated. Elk in South Dakota have also been found to have TSE. But an animal can have the disease for several years without exhibiting any symptoms. By the time symptoms appear or it dies from TSE it could have infected other elk or other species.
  It's been clearly demonstrated that the British government's early response to the threat of BSE was woefully inadequate.
  "It's always a difficult situation," Hughes said. "But elk farmers, cattle farmers and consumers need to know early in the game just how deadly an outbreak of this disease can be so they can take the necessary precautions."

Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based author and journalist who has been following the outbreak of TSE in Canadian and US Elk for the past year.

Posted: February 26, 2001

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