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As Promised-Diseases transmitted from ho

A while back, I mentioned that we did not touch or handle the feral pigs due to transmission of disease. As always some wanted more information. I promised to relay the info when I got it from the researchers and experts. Here is the email from the researchers.

John, Sorry for the delay. From what we can tell, there are approximately 24 diseases that may be contracted from feral hogs. The most common is Swine Brucellosis, (classical swine fever or undulant fever). Also Tularemia, Leptospirosis, and the ultimate Trichinosis and Toxoplasmosis which deposit a parasite in your blood system. Toxoplasmosis is the disease that our friend developed from cleaning hogs and almost went blind before the doctors determined what it was. It is probably the least well known, but from our experience it is very deadly. The older postings don't mention it, but the later the postings the more it becomes a factor. Take care....Hilda.

Use this or ignore it. I don't care. Being a reformed but Kosher Jew, it doesn't affect, me.

Thanks for sharing.

Are you back?

Thanks for the update

Taxoplasmosis is the disease carried by cats and is the reason that pregnant women are told not to handle litter boxes. Almost half the world's population is infected without being aware because they have no symptoms. It's very rare that infection is serious.

However, some people infected with taxoplasmosis find the smell of cat urine to be attractive... explaining some of the instances of odd, smelly cat lady.

Thank You. Glad to see you back. Forrest

Dang ho's...don't forget to wear your protection.

Thanks for sharing this info. I know a wild pig carries many diseases and it is not wise to handle them without wearing rubber gloves.

This is also why hog meat should be throughly good to kill diseases. I think meat should reach the 180* mark when cooking to be free of disease exposure.

John,

Is this problem specific to the area you hunted, or are wild hogs in general to be avoided?

I have wanted to try this in TX and heard the meat was excellent. Thanks.

That doesn't explain anything. Guys kill and eat hogs all over the US with no issues. Unless there is a novel disease that could be contracted in that region, it sounds like a cute excuse for wanton waste.

Matt, if you have to hunt to find a hog, your "wanton waste" comment can be excused, but around here they root up your yard. So you'll excuse me if I shoot every one of the stinking bastards that I possibly can and feed them to the coyotes.

X2 Drycreek

Is this at all related to the disease that's transmitted through raccoon feces? I believe it attacks the brain.

Drycreek X 3. I don’t care if I ever see another one

I sense some strong hatred for hogs here !

If somebody starts getting on my butt on BS , I’m immediately shifting the conversation to wild hogs !!

Feral hogs are the one animal where the term "wanton waste" can get tossed out the window. I've only killed a couple and eaten them as they are delicious (I am careful butchering, user rubber gloves, cook the meat well).

But I have a friend in TX that hunts ranches and the ranchers insist that he shoot every hog he sees. One year he killed nearly 30, in addition to the actual game animals he was pursuing. Nobody can possibly eat that much meat and while it's easy to say "salvage and donate it" that becomes nearly a full-time job, all while hunting actual game animals. He started just stripping the backstraps quick to eat and leaving the rest. I have no problem with that as feral hogs are vermin.

One rancher even told him he was welcome to hunt turkeys, but if he saw a hog and didn't fling and arrow he was not welcome back LOL

I'm surprised to see a so-called hunter demonizing wild meat, but here we go again. While it is true that pigs and deer CAN harbor infectious diseases, so can cattle, sheep and chickens. Just because animals are housed in a crowded barn or feedlot and fed a constant supply of antibiotics and growth hormones doesn't guarantee they aren't harboring any of the same bacteria or parasites listed above. In fact if you own a cat and clean the litterbox you are very likely being exposed to toxoplasmosis. Same thing with gardening. Toxoplasmosis is found in soil so you should never put your hands in dirt without wearing gloves lest you risk infection. Tularemia, which some of you may know better as "rabbit fever" is obviously found in rabbits, but is transmitted by ticks and deer flies. Just being outdoors in warm weather can put you at risk. Leptospirosis is found in contaminated water sources, and in fact became a problem in our cattle pasture during a drought one year. It caused several of our cattle to abort (keep that thought in mind). Brucellosis can be found in sheep, goats, dogs, cattle and camels as well as pigs. It is also transmitted through raw dairy products such as meat and cheese. Pasteurization (heat) kills the bacteria, ehich is why all the cheese and milk you buy in a grocery store is pasteurized. This disease also causes animals to abort (remember that).

A few years ago when the Farm Bureau tried to shut down all hog hunting operations in Oklahoma (by the way, they succeeded in several other states already), we consulted a Veterinarian to help us with some of this research to see if there is any credibility to the fear mongering and demonization they created around wild pork. His research basically boiled down to some common sense answers. The most obvious being the fact that several of these diseases cause either death in the host animal, or abortion of the fetuses. Basically if all of these wild hogs were infected, their population would be self--limiting. If there were so many animals infected, there wouldnt be so many babies that the population is growing by leaps and bounds every year.

Another scare tactic they use is by telling people that wild hogs carry all these diseases and contact with domestic animals will kill them, including pet dogs. Now this isn't exactly scientific research on our part, but I can tell you that we have been using blood-tracking dogs to help hog hunters recover their wounded hogs for nearly twenty years now. These dogs have been exposed to thousands of wild hogs. They have licked the blood, eaten raw organ meat, and pulled the intestines out of the animals we have recovered. If any of these animals were infected, our dogs were not only exposed, but literally immersed in and injected with the organisms. Not a single one of our dogs has contracted any of the above listed illnesses.

I'm not saying you shouldn't take precautions when handling raw meat, but I am saying that if you cook it before eating it, there is no reason not to hunt, butcher and eat wild pork. Anybody who calls themself a writer ought to know better than to present only half a story just to try and create a fearful response.

-Cheryl Napper

Wild hogs. They carry many diseases, destroy the land, and multiply like rabbits. Why then, does it cost so much to pig hunt?

I doubt Bowriter is back. He said he was done, but he would follow up with this information.

Good post, Cheryl!

I will listen to your comments about Leptospirosis. I have my dog vaccinated for this, because she can get it from eating wolf crap or drinking out of water frequented by wolves.

Is it a legit threat to humans? I drink, wash dishes, shower etc the same creek water the dog does. hmmmm do I need the vaccine?

guess I will go visit the google.

oz

yep, I am at risk according to the all knowing google. Humans can and do get Leptospirosis, from water or soil that an infected animal has peed in. It can be obtained through ingestion, or through cuts and scrapes.

symptoms are flu ish for a week and not an issue beyond that, unless, you get a relapse or second bout with it then it is dangerous to humans.

there is a human vaccine, but I did not read if it is in use in the states.

Sounds like it is more of a threat in tropical areas.

oz

I would guess if old blowhard asked Hilda about any animal we hunt there would be approximately 24 diseases that may be contracted from them as well. Don't even think about our spouses, kids, co workers, hunting partners and anyone else we come in contact in our lives. I guess the answer is build a bubble moving in and never come out. Lets cross our fingers this is his last thread.

Cheryl , Thank You. Forrest

Thank you Cheryl , great post!! Been hunting hogs for years with no issues. Had a golf tourney in an area with a tularemia outbreak and we were told to avoid the dead rabbits, add golf to your tularemia warning. Note your research says diseases they "may" carry.

Just to be clear, I don't hate hogs because they taste bad, because they stink, or because they carry diseases. I hate them for the damage they do. I wish the state of Texas had gotten in front of this 30 years ago. Evrry time I hesr somebody say "I wish we had hogs" it makes me want to puke. I guess if you don't own land it's not a problem, but it's a big problem for those of us that do.

Peco, it costs so much because people are willing to pay it. Nobody who owns land wants to turn people they don't know loose because they know what will probably happen. Gates left open, trash thrown down, and just a general don't-give-a-damn attitude that you see every day in the people you interact with. Hunters should be better, but lots of them are not.

I knew a LOT of guys that caught diseases from ho's in the Navy!

"Just because animals are housed in a crowded barn or feedlot and fed a constant supply of antibiotics and growth hormones"

I agree with your overall premise concerning the original post Cheryl, but this is in essence doing exactly what you're accusing him of doing (presenting a half story to create a fearful response). To say cattle are fed "a constant supply of antibiotics and growth hormones" is misleading at best. I'm not trying to be combative, just pointing out the inaccuracy of this statement. I understand the point you were trying to make, but I just think you chose the wrong words. Animal agriculture is under attack daily, those against animal agriculture sure don't need any help from someone who raises cattle, let alone a veterinary technician.

We can find pathogens on/in literally anything within the entire food supply. Just use common sense like you should with any wild game/food.

cervus x2, sometimes hunters bad mouthing ranchers and feedlot owners that raise American beef really shocks and saddens me....as if that job isn't tough enough

We are also ranchers having been in the cattle industry for the past 15 years or so, and totally understand the need for factory farming in today's world. That doesn't change the facts. Some family back in Michigan own a commercial pork production facility and I personally helped them adjust the dosing mechanism that administers antibiotics into the pig barn. I understand the need to grow a hog to 200 pounds in six months to make the mortgage payment. I totally get all that. My language may have been too strong for some, but that doesn't change the facts. I'm just really getting wearied by all the fear mongering that's being used to deter folks from eating wild game.

Cheryl

"I'm just really getting wearied by all the fear mongering that's being used to deter folks from eating wild game. "

And touching house cats without protective rubber gloves....

How about what plants do to you? Poison ivy, thorns...

Dangerous world we live in!

Not the cats Matt, but their litter boxes. Veterinarians have been warning pregnant women for years not to clean the kitty litter box due to the risk of toxoplasmosis. We never told them to get rid of their cats.

Scoot, it was in his other thread "making your new year" I think it was called. He said he was leaving because we are mean, or something like that, but he would follow up on this hog thing. You guys will all miss him when he is gone, just like TBM.

Here's an informative article on antibiotic use in livestock. Note that it's not the pigs or their manure that is of public concern, it's the antibiotic resistant bacteria that they are shedding as a result of the routine use of antibiotics in feed and water.

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