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Warning out on elk meat sold at Boulder farmer's market

High Wire Ranch bought elk from a ranch that is now under quarrantine

By Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 25, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated December 25, 2008 at 11:32 a.m.

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State health officials issued a warning Wednesday after learning that unsuspecting consumers bought hundreds of pounds of elk meat this month from an animal infected with chronic wasting disease.

The elk was sold Dec. 13 at a farmer's market at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.

Although research has found no risk to humans who eat infected elk, officials at the state and Boulder County health departments recommended that the meat not be consumed.

"There's been now 10 years- plus of research looking at whether CWD poses a human health risk, and the evidence to date suggests it does not," said John Pape, epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.

Still, he said, the research is not definitive.

In all, 15 animals purchased at a commercial Colorado elk ranch were processed in early December at a USDA-licensed plant. All those animals were tested for the disease.

Pape said the infected elk came from a ranch in northern Colorado and was purchased by the High Wire Ranch in Hotchkiss, which had the animal slaughtered.

Pape originally said animals at the High Wire Ranch had been quarantined, but later clarified that the quarantine was in effect at the ranch from which the High Wire bought the infected animal. He did not release the name of that ranch.

The High Wire was simply "middle-manning" the animal and "did everything right," Pape said.

High Wire owner Dave Whittlesey added that the infected animal was one of 15 he purchased, and the others were disease-free.

"These animals were never on my ranch," Whittlesey said. "They went directly to slaughter from their ranch of origin."

Test results obtained Tuesday indicated that one of the animals was infected with CWD, one of several diseases thought to be caused by misshaped proteins that inflict damage to nerve cells in the brain. It is a cousin to both crapie in sheep and mad cow disease.

Label information

On infected elk meat:

* Seller: High Wire Ranch

* Cuts: chuck roast, arm roast, flat iron, ribeye steak, New York steak, tenderloin, sirloin tip roast, medallions and ground meat.

* Processor: Cedaredge Processing

* USDA triangle number: 34645

For more information, contact John Pape, Colorado Department of Health and Environment, 303-692-2628.

Comments

  • December 25, 2008

    9:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LuvAmerica writes:

    No risk? Tell that to my friend's dad who used to hunt & eat elk, then died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob.

  • December 25, 2008

    9:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    singularity99 writes:

    I agree with LuvAmerica. Several years ago there was a case where hunters in the upper midwest killed and ate deer with CWD, and all came down with Creutzfeldt-Jakob. If humans can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob from cattle with BSE (Mad Cow Disease), it stands to reason that Creutzfeldt-Jakob can result from eating deer with CWD, as BSE and CWD are highly related prion diseases.

  • December 25, 2008

    11:46 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Proud_American_Citizen writes:

    The sad thing is a lot of the meat purchased at the Winter Farmer's Market probably already has been consumed. Why don't they require this meat to be held from sale until the testing is complete!

  • December 25, 2008

    12:04 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    intothelens writes:

    Dear RMN, the Boulder County Fairgrounds is actually in Longmont. The sale of these meats happened in Longmont, not Boulder.

  • December 25, 2008

    12:51 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    happymike44 writes:

    Well now we know what to avoid at the county fair.
    I hope no one else gets sick and dies from this.

  • December 25, 2008

    3:50 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    utra writes:

    I have several responses to people that have commented and if you would like to question my credibility then do so but I have a vested interest and actually have done my research in prion based diseases:

    1.) to proud american citizen: there is a standard 10 day testing period for USDA tested elk in colorado. If the USDA makes no contact with the rancher after 10 days, then it has been made clear by the USDA that there is no issue with CWD in the meat. The USDA in this case did not contact the rancher until the 19th or 20th and the animal in question was killed on the 1st. The meat was held separately until the 11th and then sold on the 13th meeting the 10 day period requirement.

    2.) to Luv america & singularity: there is a natural occurance (including vegetarians) of around 1 in one million of CJD in humans. There was substantial research done in the case of the midwest hunters that got CJD and as of my knowledge there was no official research to suggest what was the source of CJD in the hunters. Furthermore there has not been a case of a human getting CJD from a BSE infected cow.

    3. To happymike44: please make informed comments, remarks like that do nothing to further discussion on this issue.

  • December 25, 2008

    4:01 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    milesd writes:

    It is difficult to trust a government that lies.

  • December 25, 2008

    9:55 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    happymike44 writes:

    Don't worry the government will keep us safe from mad cow.
    I believe they will never let bad food or tainted milk and dog food from china.
    Just click your heels together and say I believe I believe I believe my food is safe.
    Yeah and if you believe that I got a bridge in New York I could sell you.