{"id":10836,"date":"2022-05-10T15:42:04","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T15:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/?page_id=10836"},"modified":"2022-07-05T13:59:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T17:59:20","slug":"white-tailed-deer-and-covid-19-what-hunters-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wildlife\/wildlife-health-in-new-jersey\/white-tailed-deer-and-covid-19-what-hunters-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"White-Tailed Deer and COVID-19: What Hunters Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in people, is primarily spread from person-to-person through close contact. We know the virus can sometimes be spread from people to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/daily-life-coping\/animals.html\"> certain susceptible animal species<\/a>, which includes white-tailed deer. Recently, there have been reports of wild and captive white-tailed deer in other states infected with SARS-CoV-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthypets\/covid-19\/wildlife.html\">According to the CDC<\/a>, there is no evidence that wildlife, which includes white-tailed deer, are a source of COVID-19 illness for people in the United States, or that people can get COVID-19 from preparing and eating hunted game meat<\/strong>. Based on current information, the risk of animals spreading SARS-CoV-2 to people is likely low. Close contact with an infected person is still the most likely way a person would be exposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, we still have much to learn about white-tailed deer and SARS-CoV-2 infection, including learning what risk, if any, an infected deer may pose to hunters. Current information is extremely limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"732\" src=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/deer_bill_klimas_crab_claw_8-scaled-1024x732.jpg\" alt=\"White-Tailed Deer Buck on Fall Leaves\" class=\"wp-image-12504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/deer_bill_klimas_crab_claw_8-scaled-1024x732.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/deer_bill_klimas_crab_claw_8-scaled-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/njfw\/deer_bill_klimas_crab_claw_8-scaled-768x549.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hunters are always encouraged to use good hygiene practices when processing animals to reduce their risk of exposure to many possible disease agents. Incorporating a few additional measures can also help to reduce their risk of possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do not harvest animals that appear sick or are found dead.<\/li><li>Keep the carcass and meat clean. Cool the meat as soon as possible after harvesting the animal.<\/li><li>When handling and cleaning the carcass:<ul><li>Wear rubber or disposable gloves.<\/li><li>Wear a mask.<\/li><li>Do not eat, drink, or smoke.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Limit cutting into and handling the spinal cord, brain, lungs, throat, and mouth\/nasal cavity to only what is necessary.<\/li><li>When finished handling the carcass:<ul><li>Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.<\/li><li>Wash all knives, equipment, and surfaces that were in contact with the carcass with soap and water and use a disinfectant.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>If you are immunocompromised, consider asking for assistance with carcass processing and handling.<\/li><li>Cook all game meat thoroughly (to an internal temperature of 165\u00b0F or higher).<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in people, is primarily spread from person-to-person through close contact. We know the virus can sometimes be spread from people to certain susceptible animal species, which includes white-tailed deer. Recently, there have been reports of wild and captive white-tailed deer in other states infected with SARS-CoV-2. According to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"parent":2101,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10836","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10836\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/njfw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}