CDC: Deer Can Transmit Tuberculosis to Humans

Deer can transmit certain strains of tuberculosis to humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned, citing a Michigan man who came down with bovine tuberculosis in 2017 after two decades of hunting.

In a Sept. 20 report, the CDC said the 77-year-old man, who was not named, had hunted in an area where the disease was observed in two other hunters more than a decade ago.

The man had no known exposure to anyone with tuberculosis and did not drink unpasteurized milk, the agency said, but he did hunt and remove infected deer organs after killing them for 20 years.

Bovine tuberculosis is found in cattle, bison, elk and deer, according to news reports. The man lived in the northeastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, which has low numbers of human tuberculosis diagnoses, but many deer test positive.

Symptoms of the disease include respiratory problems, chest pain, fever, and weight loss, The Hill reports. However, bovine tuberculosis is resistant to pyrazinamide, an antibiotic commonly used to treat tuberculosis.

CDC officials recommend that hunters wear protective gear in field-dressing animals, adding that if a deer head submitted for tuberculosis tests positive, hunters should also be screened.

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