University of Wisconsin - Extension

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel included an article on August 19, 2000, reminding hunters that venison can carry E. coli O157:H7.

Just like ground beef, deer meat can harbor the E. coli O157:H7. And because of the conditions in which deer are killed, dressed, stored and butchered, Wisconsin?s 700,000 deer hunters should be especially cautious. Last year, hunters killed a record 485,000 deer.

The story says that last month, health officials meeting at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta presented the case of a 7-year-old

Connecticut boy who was sickened after eating undercooked tenderloin from a deer his father killed and butchered. The deer had been shot in the gut and took two hours to find, which allowed E. coli bacteria to leak onto the carcass. The father then hung the carcass outside on a swing set for two days in temperatures ranging from 32 degrees to

55 degrees. The child, who had bloody diarrhea after eating the undercooked meat, recovered from the illness. Douglas Dingman, a research scientist with Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station who investigated the case was quoted as saying, "It was like everything that could be done wrong was done wrong."

William Keene an epidemiologist with the Oregon Health Department, indicated that, "Surveys suggest that it (E. coli) is at least as common in deer as it is in cows. Wild game should be handled and cooked with the same caution for other meats." Because E. coli is found in the intestines and feces of animals, hunters need to be especially cautions with deer that are shot through the gut. The practice of hanging the carcass for a day or two to tenderize the meat can allow E. coli bacteria on the carcass to proliferate. To be certain that all E. coli organisms are killed, meat must be heated to 160 degrees.

http://www.jsonline.com:80/news/state/aug00/venison19081800a.asp