Hog Hunter Sickened With Brucellosis

[alsaqr]

This Florida hog hunter caught brucellosis.

Be careful in handling feral hogs and feral hog meat: Cook well before eating. Wear gloves while field dressing and skinning hogs.


"A man’s habit of hunting feral pigs exposed him to a rare brain infection, doctors in Florida say. In a recent case report, they detail how the man developed a serious kind of infection that’s mostly disappeared in the U.S., caused by Brucella bacteria."

A Hunter in Florida Got a Rare Brain Infection From Feral Hogs (msn.com)


Transmission | Brucellosis | CDC

 

[sage5907]

The closest I get to a dead hog is to tie a rope around his back legs and onto the hitch on my truck to drag him off. I'll let the coyotes get the brucellosis.

But if he's big enough I'll lay my rifle on his side for a picture.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I dress them out gutless and only take the rears, shoulders, and straps.

and I wear the thick kitchen type gloves.

and if they stink in any way worse than normal I leave them lay.

 

[Mr. Zorg]

Thanks for the heads-up. It doesn't look like feral hogs are the only game animals that carry this risk, nor using gutless field dressing methods mitigates this risk.

https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/exposure/hunters.html

 

[Grumulkin]

Just to give some perspective. Far more people die each year from the accumulated consequences of eating dead animals than will ever die from brucellosis or tuberculosis. What you should be most worried about are heart attacks, colon cancers, etc.

Happy eating.

 

[Meeks36]

Just to give some perspective. Far more people die each year from the accumulated consequences of eating dead animals than will ever die from brucellosis or tuberculosis. What you should be most worried about are heart attacks, colon cancers, etc.

Happy eating.

Statistically speaking 1 in 2 people will get cancer. Been there done that. Chemo sucks. Oh and it causes cancer as well. Plant based diets are the way. My preference being pesco vegetarian. Love fish.

 

[alsaqr]

The chances of catching brucellosis are slim, but why take the chance. i always wear long sleeved shirts and elbow length rubber gloves while field dressing, skinning and cutting up wild hogs. One should wear glasses to keep liquid out of the eyes: i've had stuff splashed on my glasses.

In high school our VoAg teacher had what was called Bang's disease at that time.

The elk herds in Yellowstone national park are infected with brucellosis.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Maybe if people were less sedentary the accumulated effects of dead animals could be mitigated.

That’s me putting it in the most genteel way I can.

 

[Patocazador]

I seldom touch a hog without latex gloves on. I try to keep my dog away from any blood or saliva. If I don't know someone who wants the meat, I hook a rope to its hocks and drag it to a sinkhole.
Brucellosis and pseudorabies are not something to be fluffed off whether you're a carnivore or a vegetarian.

 

[jmorris]

I wear gloves on deer too. Heck I wore a mask in a BBQ restaurant to order meat that was already cooked!

I probably wouldn’t hunt if I were a vegetarian. Wouldn’t raise cattle, so wouldn’t care about the hay meadows and loose my reason to kill hogs all together....

Would fix all my problems. Alas, the closest I will come to being a vegetarian is enjoying how they taste.

 

[Meeks36]

I wear gloves on deer too.

I probably wouldn’t hunt if I were a vegetarian. Wouldn’t raise cattle, so wouldn’t care about the hay meadows and loose my reason to kill hogs all together....

Would fix all my problems. Alas, the closest I will come to being a vegetarian is enjoying how they taste.

Why not hunt when vegetarian? The animals are eating your food! But seriously if we all went vegetarian then there would be a crap tonne of deer vs car wreck's.

 

[jmorris]

I’m not much of a grass or acorn eater.

 

[Meeks36]

I’m not much of a grass or acorn eater.

Seen deer and hogs tear up a corn field.

 

[mokin]

That's interesting. Out here people are cautioned against tuliremia from rabbits. Despite the fact that hogs aren't supposed to be here, I came across a dead one out in the woods ten - twelve years ago. Always wondered about it.

 

[whatnickname]

I grew up in Florida. Brucellosis is no joke. Feral pigs are nasty animals. Don’t confuse them with hogs that are raised commercially under tight controls for for feed and pens. Brucellosis will make you extremely ill for quite some time. Feral pigs are vermin. There’s no season on them in most states. I wouldn’t touch the carcass of a feral pig.

 

[marksman13]

I’ll never eat another wild pig unless it’s a matter of absolute survival. Still enjoy shooting them and taking others to shoot them on our wounded veteran hunts. Heck, I’ll even skin them for our hunters if they want to take meat home with them, but I’m just not going to eat a wild pig. Skinned too many and been around too many dead ones I guess. It’s akin to eating a rat in my mind at this point.

 

[Paul7]

I grew up in Florida. Brucellosis is no joke. Feral pigs are nasty animals. Don’t confuse them with hogs that are raised commercially under tight controls for for feed and pens. Brucellosis will make you extremely ill for quite some time. Feral pigs are vermin. There’s no season on them in most states.

Which is a good thing for hunters, right?

I wouldn’t touch the carcass of a feral pig.

I don't touch a feral pig carcass either, the guides at the hunting ranches I go to do. I'll eat a properly processed, well cooked feral pig any day before the bland store bought factory stuff, or venison for that matter. A wild hog is an organic, free-range animal, with much more flavor IMHO. If you shoot a big one that smells when you walk up to it, yes, leave it for the coyotes but I've never had that happen. From my experience even the larger ones are good when ground for pork burgers, breakfast sausage, bratwurst or smoked summer sausage.

For problems with store pork, see https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20121128/harmful-bacteria-pork#1

And this: https://www.theguardian.com/animals...lings-discovered-in-us-pig-and-chicken-plants

If you don't cook pork properly, you've got a problem whether it's wild or store bought. Except for the tenderloins I slow-cook wild pork for 4+ hours, no 'bug' is going to survive that including Brucellosis, which can be found in deer also. I agree Brucellosis can be serious, my mom had a case of it long ago from unpasteurized milk at her uncle's farm in IL. If you're worried use a meat thermometer to make sure it's at least 165 degrees.

Wild pork is commonly found on menus of high end European restaurants, no such squeamishness over there.

 

[alsaqr]

Every year i skin, field dress, and sometimes process a couple dozen feral hogs. Many others are removed from traps, dragged off and left for coyotes. i always wear glasses, long sleeve garments and gloves when handling hogs.

Most of the meat i devour comes from feral hogs. Feral hog meat currently in the freezer came from a fat >250 pound wild boar: Chops are huge. Feral hog meat don't even resemble domestic pork and it contains no growth hormones or antibiotics.

IME: "Strong tasting" hog meat is contaminated or rotten hog meat. When the temperature is over 80 F one has about four hours to cool the meat before is begins to deteriorate.

Most feral hogs have little, if any, bacon. That's because of their hardscrabble life. This large sow was an exception:



Be careful when handling feral hogs. Cook the meat properly and enjoy.

 

[daniel craig]

I 100% recommended getting a meat thermometer. Might not seem like a necessary investment but man does it really make sure that meat you’re cooking is safe to eat, especially if you like it on the rarer side.

 

[BigBlue 94]

That's interesting. Out here people are cautioned against tuliremia from rabbits. Despite the fact that hogs aren't supposed to be here, I came across a dead one out in the woods ten - twelve years ago. Always wondered about it.

Yup, rabbit fever. Only kill and eat after the first heavy frost.

Not that most will have any contact with em, but armadillos can carry leprosy.