Are North American Fields Haunted?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITbjVXuDAWU

Reading studies about Chronic Wasting Disease and Scrapie outbreaks in North America has filled my mind with questions.  

The number of states in the US infected with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is known to be 24.  The situation is dire in Colorado for the cervid population, which is elk and deer, and in other locations all sorts of ruminants like moose, with at least 40% of the entire herd of the state infected.   

What is CWD?  It is a prion disease that affects cervids, causing neurological deterioration, and with a 100% mortality rate.  The disease progresses slowly over months to years before symptoms are seen.  The symptoms are weight loss, staggering,  behavioral changes and confusion.  The animal may lose its fear of humans.   It is sometimes described as "zombie deer."  They sometimes stand eerily alone for hours, staring into space in a disturbing way.  It's very contagious if you're a deer or elk or other cervid.  And it's a good idea not to eat the meat of an infected animal, due to the possibility of human infection.  

Similar diseases have infected squirrels, raccoons,  and mink.  And maybe other species.  It is documented that several people have died in Kentucky and in Texas after eating squirrel brains.  

How could this have happened?  There is a lot of speculation, which as usual I don't mind doing.  But right now I want to talk about questions that I have about the transmission of CWD and Scrapie.  

One of the things that most people find bizarre about these diseases is that the soil is contaminated by the diseased animals.  Not for a few days or weeks but for many years.  Well, I find that weird.  Hence the title, Are North American Fields Haunted?  

When a diseased animal urinates or defecates on soil, leaves placenta on soil, or is buried in soil, the soil just never recovers and becomes contaminated permanently.  Or maybe semi permanently.  Animals that are fed on pastures formerly used by infected  animals invariably become infected themselves.  

A recent study showed that grass, and other plants, uptake infectious prions from the soil into the stems and leaves of the plants.  Eating the grass causes infection of the formerly well animal.  

This is all very sad for the animals, but how does it affect people?  The hunting industry has suffered economically.  There are suspicions that  some hunters have developed the human form of the disease, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease from eating deer and elk.  But what about the fact that plants are infected?  If wheat grass can uptake infectious prions and spread the disease to cervids and sheep, what else could be at risk?  

How long does the wheat grass remain infectious after it's cut?  Is hay from infected pastures infectious?  At 9:30 minutes in the above video, mention was made that infected hay from alfalfa has been known to transport CWD to different regions it is transported to.  Is the wheat from infected wheat grass infectious?   And the flour from made from the wheat?  Is this why we have an upsurge since 1979 in Alzheimer's Disease?  What's going on with the food supply?   

What do I think?  I think it is likely that one can withstand a certain amount of exposure to prions without developing disease.  Probably the residual amount of prions in bread from infected wheat grass would not translate to an epidemic in people.   I suppose there would be some that would develop Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease spontaneously, as they say, more than the favorite "one in a million," but not an epidemic.  I think with the amount of disease present in wildlife that an increase in dementia in people is likely.   Maybe the amount of exposure to prions would be small enough that it's a non event.  I think probably as one gets older, one is exposed to more and more prions until the tipping point is reached.   And will this be contagious?  I know, I'm being negative. 

PS. If the wheat grass plants are contaminated with infectious prions, would the wheat berries be also contaminated?  Would wheat grass grown from contaminated wheat berries grow infectious prions?   And would the problem, assuming it exists, be limited to wheat grass?  Wouldn't all the grains be susceptible?