What is Brucellosis?
Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can affect both humans and animals. It’s often transmitted through contact with infected animals, their products, or through the air. It causes fever, joint pain, and fatigue. Wild boar hunters have an increased risk of developing Brucellosis due to their exposure to infected animals or contaminated animal products. Read these tips to help you prevent the spread of Brucellosis when hunting and preparing meat.
Prevention
25-30% of all reported Brucellosis cases were found to be directly linked to Feral Swine Hunting. (CDC, unpublished data) To eliminate risk of disease, make sure to follow the following guidelines:
Healthy Hunting Habits
- Use clean, sharp knives for butchering and field dressing.
- DO NOT eat, drink or smoke while field dressing your game.
- Wear eye protection, and nonporous gloves when working with carcasses.
- Avoid direct contact with hunting dogs.
- Do not feed dogs raw meat.
- Check with your local hunting authority for proper disposal of carcasses.
- Clean and disinfect supplies thoroughly.
- Clean hands thoroughly with soap and water.
Game Meat Preparation
- Wash hands before and after preparing meat.
- Separate raw game meat from other food sources.
- Cook game meat until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- Freezing, smoking, drying and/or pickling DOES NOT kill the bacteria that causes Brucellosis. For more information on food safety, visit Foodsafety.gov.
- Chill raw and cooked game meat immediately.
Feral Swine and Brucellosis, CDC https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis, May 2025
Swine Brucellosis, Fish Wildlife Commission, MyFWC.com May 2025
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