title: Six-year follow-up of a point-source exposure to CWD contaminated venison in an Upstate New York community: risk behaviours and health outcomes 2005-2011.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is currently unknown whether chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, is transmissible to humans. Reported on here are the behavioural risk factors and health conditions associated with a six-year follow-up of a known point-source exposure to a CWD infected deer in an Upstate New York community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Oneida County Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Project was launched in 2005 in response to a point-source exposure to a CWD infected deer at a March 2005 Sportsmen's feast in Upstate New York. Eighty-one exposed individuals participated in the 2005 baseline data collection, and were sent follow-up questionnaires following each deer hunting season between 2005 and 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over a six year period, participants reported a reduction in overall venison consumption. Participants reported no significant changes in health conditions, although several conditions (vision loss, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, weight changes, hypertension, and arthritis), were significantly associated with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To this day, this incident remains the only known large-scale point-source exposure to a CWD infected deer. Prion diseases can incubate for multiple decades before the manifestation of clinical symptoms; thus, continued surveillance of this exposed study population represents a unique opportunity to assess the risk of CWD transmission to humans. This project is uniquely situated to provide the first epidemiological evidence of CWD transmission to humans, should it occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Olszowy
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lavelle
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rachfal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hempstead
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Biospecimen Archive Facility, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drouin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Darcy
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reiber
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neuroscience, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA; Biospecimen Archive Facility, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, USA. Electronic address: rgarruto@binghamton.edu.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Garruto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D003670:Deer; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D034081:Wasting Disease, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D015047:Zoonoses
keywords: Community health; Prion disease; Public health surveillance; Wasting disease, chronic