According to a new UW-Madison study, the prions that cause mad cow disease are not destroyed by conventional sewage treatment and could end up contaminating water and fertilizer. This may be of interest to folks ’round here, given that the state Department of Natural Resources has for the past few months been dumping the carcasses of deer with chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the county’s Rodefeld landfill, from which leachate is pumped into the sewerage treatment plant.
But, it turns out, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about!