LONGMONT — Elk meat that tested positive for chronic wasting disease came from an animal raised in northern Colorado, not from the High Wire Ranch near Hotchkiss, said state epidemiologist John Pape.
The state and Boulder County health officials issued a recall of elk meat sold Dec. 13 at a holiday farmers market at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. The recalled meat, marketed under the High Wire label, carries the date of Dec. 9 and bears a USDA triangle with the number 34645, said High Wire owner Dave Whittlesey.
The infected animal was one of 15 Whittlesey purchased. The others were disease-free, he said. “These animals were never on my ranch,” he said. “They went directly to slaughter from their ranch of origin.”
Pape said the meat was tested when the elk were slaughtered, but the results weren’t known until after the meat was sold.
Chronic wasting disease has been present in the wild for decades in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. Though the disease is thought to be harmless to humans, health officials still warn against eating meat from infected animals. The Associated Press
