Disease risks associated with feral hogs

[Abert Rim]

I didn't want to hijack a couple of other threads here that deal with harvesting wild hogs for the table. Yes, there are disease risks that can be avoided with proper field care, processing and cooking.

https://vet.uga.edu/population_healt...e_brochure.pdf

But before anyone gets all worked up and runs screaming from the room, consider the diseases you can be exposed to eating beef. The risks are not that different.

https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/400/400-460/400-460.html

Mods, if this belongs in a different forum, please move it. Just seems the discussion is active here in the Hunting with CB forum.

[Winger Ed.]

Not sure about CWD, I never needed to learn much about it,
but most problems can be avoided by cooking things until they're done when checked with a thermometer.

[dangitgriff]

True...however, pork isn’t supposed to be cooked until all the pink is gone, that is well-done. I prefer my chops medium.
Brucellosis can present in many other game animals besides feral swine.
I do not recall ever donning a rubber apron and gloves while butchering and dressing out our farm-raised pigs in the 1980’s.
Maybe the more we avoid the pathogens, the more we lose resistance to them and that increases our risk of serious illness from them and mortality...there have been studies conducted supporting this line of reasoning.

[poppy42]

True...however, pork isn’t supposed to be cooked until all the pink is gone, that is well-done. I prefer my chops medium.
Brucellosis can present in many other game animals besides feral swine.
I do not recall ever donning a rubber apron and gloves while butchering and dressing out our farm-raised pigs in the 1980’s.
Maybe the more we avoid the pathogens, the more we lose resistance to them and that increases our risk of serious illness from them and mortality...there have been studies conducted supporting this line of reasoning.

The thought of eating pork that’s even the slightest bit pink makes me ill just think of it. If you want to eat pink porkchops to each his own that’s fine with me . As for me no thank you!

[dangitgriff]

The thought of eating pork that’s even the slightest bit pink makes me ill just think of it. If you want to eat pink porkchops to each his own that’s fine with me . As for me no thank you!

USDA says 145 degrees is fine.
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...chart/ct_index

[Walks]

This must be a new thing. I ate feral pig growing up in the 1960's, 70's, 80's and into the 90's. We would take up to a dozen pigs a year. Only ate Ham, smoked by my Grandmother's old German Butcher. He supplied the pork fat my Grandmother used to make sausage.

I'm 66yrs old. It's been 20+ years since I had any, but I ain't died yet.

[edp2k]

There is a big difference between:

A. animals like beef being bred, raised, fattened, and slaughtered under the watchful eye of the
farmer, ranch hand, butcher, meat packer, each each making sure the FDA or some other gov agency doesn't shut them down or fine them because
of tainted meat, which would impact their livelihood, means of making a living, and reputation (AKA future sales).
(also their feed typically/routinely contains antibiotics, even fed to not-obviously-diseased animals).
and

B. herds of feral/wild animals that drop liters of 13+ piglets several times a year, where if 1 gets a disease it gets passed around to all of them,
and the critters roam around for miles and pass said diseases to any and all other critters they run into/eat with/breed with.

Yes, domestic animals can have diseases, however the fast breeding and far roaming pigs are far more likely to have said diseases and pass it around.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I eat my homegrown porkchops and store bought shoulder steaks slightly pink (medium). I eat venison back straps medium rare. I'd probably BBQ a wild pig to 180+. Don't forget tularemia in rabbits and squirrels. They get pressure cooked at 212+.

[rking22]

I guess I’m gonna die according to the gooberment recommendations. I eat fully cooked ham right out of the fridge, along with leftovers. Agree with well cooked ferals, but my beef and venison barely make it to warm in the center!
Forgot, Don’t forget to pay attention to kitchen prep and transfer when preparing dinner. If you cross contaminate your salad with the raw pork.... how much you cook the pork won’t matter. I know I am a bit carefree when working with deer meat, pork requires more care.

[LazyTCross]

Hard to be selective of a wild hog that you shoot at 20 - long distance and tell if he has the squirts!! But when we have a sick cow or calf we treat it or remove it from herd and this world. Not to mention all the steps taken to prevent that from ever happening.
Sure. Anything can get a disease, but to compare the two things is not relevant.

[dangitgriff]

There is a big difference between:

A. animals like beef being bred, raised, fattened, and slaughtered under the watchful eye of the
farmer, ranch hand, butcher, meat packer, each each making sure the FDA or some other gov agency doesn't shut them down or fine them because
of tainted meat, which would impact their livelihood, means of making a living, and reputation (AKA future sales).
(also their feed typically/routinely contains antibiotics, even fed to not-obviously-diseased animals).
and

B. herds of feral/wild animals that drop liters of 13+ piglets several times a year, where if 1 gets a disease it gets passed around to all of them,
and the critters roam around for miles and pass said diseases to any and all other critters they run into/eat with/breed with.

Yes, domestic animals can have diseases, however the fast breeding and far roaming pigs are far more likely to have said diseases and pass it around.

If this is true, please show me the proof.
I wonder if the I-trust-the-FDA consumers think pumping farm-raised pigs full of FDA-approved antibiotics that make it into their bodies is any safer a risk than consuming wild game?
I wonder, also, if consumers of farm-raised and FDA-regulated pork are aware of adverse studies that are intentionally withheld from the public?

[rking22]

Those are the very reasons I eat mostly wild game! I will deal with the natural bacteria that is and has been known for years. The factory raised stuff, who knows, I do not really accept the FDA as totally knowledgeable or honest.

[DeputyDuke]

Oh ****, what about the raw buffalo liver I ate on the plains of Montana? By the way, the texture is much like fine bubble wrap.

Duke

[firebyprolong]

I've been in the meat industry for the better part of 20 years, one of the biggest concerns with pork has always been trichinae. It's the big reason pork hasn't been consumed in a "rare" state for years. Trichinae has been mostly eliminated in the domestic population of hogs because of biosecurity measures and changes in feeding practices. In the feral population it's still very present and needs to be addressed. It's a living organism that can be destroyed by heat or cold. 145F is used by the FDA as a minimum temperature because at that temperature lethality is instantaneous. It can also be achieved at temperatures as low as 120 F for 21 hours. Alternatively freezing at a verified 5F for a minimum of 30 days also achieves lethality. If you're interested this is all USDA regulation from the code of federal regulation, 318.9. The CFR only applies to products under inspection at inspected facilities, but is useful as a guideline for your own butcher and processing processes. All that said it's your pork and your family, you can do as you like.

[RogerDat]

The above post on known actions that are lethal to pathogens is what organizations such as the FDA is good at. Trust the inspectors or not most of the guidelines are based on best evidence available at the time.

TB and Chronic Wasting Disease are both in our dear herds in Michigan. A great deal of effort goes into keeping both of these out of our domestic animal herds, generally successfully so far. Many feel the disease spread was caused by allowing bait piles, which led to allowing auto feeders that dropped corn pile daily, and that led to many deer grazing with snouts and mouths in close contact on the corn pile which helped spread the diseases. Both diseases are something you want to avoid contact with.

Food handling cross contamination is probably the most common mistake. On temperature as I recall the food handling codes one relied on two guidelines. Food had to be hotter than or colder than at all times. Cook above a certain temperature, store above a certain temperature, until chilled below a certain temperature. So a piece of meat that was cooked at 165* and stored in a warmer at 140* until placed in refrigeration at 40* would be considered safe to eat right from the refrigerator. Pathogens killed, pathogens no allowed to grow = food is still safe.

BTW - pulled those temps from a very distant memory, essentially I am sitting on the source you could almost say. The process though is accurate. One could take properly cooked and stored roast beef or ham from the refrigerator and make a sandwich from it that was safe to sell. Health dept. would hammer you if any of those steps were not at acceptable temperature.

[Walkingwolf]

I grew up eating wild game that was always cooked all day in an acidic sauce, never got ill.

[truckjohn]

Remember that most commercially packed grocery store pork is irradiated or CO treated prior to packaging for sale to eliminate the risk of parasites/disease. That hit large scale 15-20 years ago. That's why all the UDSA guidelines changed.

Feral pork - not so much... It's getting cooked all the way done.
The other consideration with feral pork is animal age. Most commercial pork is under 1 year old. How old is that pig you shot? Not real sure... Older animals tend to have more and tougher connective tissue. Their muscles tend to be tougher. The meat also has a lot more "flavor". That takes us back to "Old fashioned" cooking techniques used to deal with older animals that were eaten after their productive farm use was over.... For example - 100 years ago, many farm chickens weren't killed till they were done laying... About 2 years old. You don't fry those, too chewy... You stew laying hens and they are delicious..... The young roosters (6 months or so) were the ones that got fried...

[trapper9260]

If you do not cook it any meat right you will get sick. Also not handle it right you will have problems.I get a hog once in awhile from a farmer that have problems with it that can not be ship out and eat that hog and do it up myself with my brother. Done that for years.

[gpidaho]

Well, as I stated in the other thread, I was raised eating a kosher diet and although I'm not strict in this as an adult (who can resist bacon for breakfast) I do have concerns with eating pork in general especially if it's not over cooked. Trichina cysts are something that makes my skin crawl, pun intended. Gp

[luvtn]

Remember that most commercially packed grocery store pork is irradiated or CO treated prior to packaging for sale to eliminate the risk of parasites/disease. That hit large scale 15-20 years ago. That's why all the UDSA guidelines changed.

Feral pork - not so much... It's getting cooked all the way done.
The other consideration with feral pork is animal age. Most commercial pork is under 1 year old. How old is that pig you shot? Not real sure... Older animals tend to have more and tougher connective tissue. Their muscles tend to be tougher. The meat also has a lot more "flavor". That takes us back to "Old fashioned" cooking techniques used to deal with older animals that were eaten after their productive farm use was over.... For example - 100 years ago, many farm chickens weren't killed till they were done laying... About 2 years old. You don't fry those, too chewy... You stew laying hens and they are delicious..... The young roosters (6 months or so) were the ones that got fried...

Where do you get this radiation bit from?
gramps