Mask Up When Dressing Deer, State Health Officials Urge Hunters

WISCONSIN — The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommended that hunters wear masks when indoors with other people during hunting season or when handling deer carcasses that may carry the coronavirus.

Two separate studies found that deer in Iowa and Ohio tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in people.

Gathering unmasked indoors before and after hunting can also increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, state health officials said.

"We encourage hunters to follow good hygiene practices when processing their deer and to follow the COVID-19 recommendations outlined above to help protect themselves, others and wildlife," state health services said on its website.

There's no evidence that wildlife, including white-tailed deer, are a source of COVID-19 illness in people or that people can get infected by eating deer meat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"Close contact with an infected person is still the most likely way a person would be exposed," state health services said on its website. "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."

State health services recommended the following practices when dressing deer.

• Don't harvest animals that look sick or are found dead.
• Keep the carcass and meat clean, and cool the meat as soon as possible after harvesting the animal.
• Wear rubber or disposable gloves, wear a mask and don't eat, drink or smoke when handling or cleaning a carcass.
• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling a carcass.
• Wash all knives, equipment and surfaces that were in contact with dead deer with soap and water, and use a disinfectant.
• Immunocompromised people should consider asking for help with carcass processing and handling.
• Cook all game meat to an internal temperature 165 degrees or higher.

Gun deer hunt starts Saturday and ends Nov. 28 in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said.