Three individuals this week learned the cost of consuming boars out in the wild, without even hunting in the wild. Although these men had to learn the hard way that parasites are no joke when it comes to boar hunting, it gives the chance to evaluate the risks and issues in the health department when it comes to consuming and hunting the wild boars ravaging the United States.
Wild boars are getting into all kinds of things in the wild, and although the boars that these three men in Missouri ate were not exclusively being raised in the wild, they were roaming free on land and that means they are bound to get into things. This is exactly why the Center for Disease Control offers pamphlets around hog hunting and what you can encounter. There are over 24 different kinds of diseases you could end up getting from hogs, including a few kinds of parasites such as the trichinella that infected these men.
Although trichinella is one of the worst, none of them is going to result in death, just symptoms that can make you feel like you wish you were dead. Some can be months of just diarrhea and vomiting, while others feel like a cold. The CDC recommend that if you ever end up with cold symptoms of any kind and you have gone boar hunting and eaten the boars then you should mention this to your doctor as it could help determine the problem.
Even if you aren’t running into problems, always make sure to use gloves when handling the boars and make sure you thoroughly cook the meat, no matter how bloody you like your meat, you need to cook boar meat through to make sure you get rid of the parasites.
Otherwise, be safe while hunting!