Say no to Cougar jerky!Frankly they got what they deserved for eating a CAT, let alone a raw one!
Recommendation for wild cats or any wild critters are for 170F. Freezing used to be preventative for Trixie but this isolate was freeze resistant. Cant make Cougar Tartar without long low temp sous vide.
TAT
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Outbreak of Trichinellosis Associated with Eating Cougar Jerky -- Idaho, 1995
During the second week of January, the index patient shot and killed a cougar (Felis concolor) near Elk City, Idaho. During January 15-18, he prepared jerky from the cougar meat by first soaking the meat in a brine solution made from table salt, then smoking the meat; however, he later reported the smoker never became more than warm. During the next 4 weeks, he distributed the meat to 14 other persons, all of whom ate the meat within days to 1 month after receipt.
On January 26, the man had onset of illness characterized by fever, myalgia, arthralgia, facial swelling, and fatigue. On examination by his physician, his total white blood cell count was 8500/mm3 (normal: 5000-10,000/mm3) with 48% eosinophils, 32% segmented neutrophils, 17% lymphocytes, and 3% monocytes. Based on these findings, trichinellosis was suspected, and he was referred to an infectious disease consultant.
During March 3-April 10, NCDHD interviewed the 14 persons who had received jerky. Seven of these persons were men; case-patients ranged in age from 25 to 52 years.
Trichinella species are found in virtually all warm-blooded animals. As domestic swine-associated cases have decreased, the proportion of cases associated with eating wild game has increased, and cases have resulted from consumption of bear, wild boar, and walrus (3-5). This report is the first to document cougar as the source of trichinellosis in the United States.
In this investigation, viable larvae were recovered from meat that had been frozen. Although most species of Trichinella are killed by freezing, results of the genomic DNA amplification performed at USDA suggest that the cougar isolate was either T. nativa or Trichinella T6, both freeze-resistant strains that have not been previously reported in Idaho.
