As a hunter, you can protect yourself and your family from diseases commonly Wild found in wild hogs: Use safe field dressing Hog techniques To contact your state health department for information about brucellosis, visit: Follow food safety tips www.uga.edu/scwds/othersites.html Hunting If you get sick with a flu-like For more brucellosis information illness, tell your doctor that from CDC, visit: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/ Protect Yourself Protect Yourself you hunt wild hogs. brucellosis_g.htm Or call 1-800-CDC-INFO To contact your state wildlife agency for information about wild hogs, visit: State Fish and Wildlife Agencies www.fishwildlife.org/where_us.html For more information about wild hog damage management, visit: USDA Wildlife Services www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/ Or call 1-866- 4-USDA-WS Stay Healthy Wear gloves when field dressing to protect yourself. on Your Hunt! Photos courtesy of USDA-APHIS-WS National Wildlife Disease Program About Wild Hogs You May Be At Risk For How to Protect Yourself (Wild / Feral Pigs, Boars & Swine) Brucellosis Safe Field Dressing You can get sick if blood, fluid, or tissue Wild hogs are the descendants of Eurasian Avoid all contact with visibly ill animals or of an infected hog comes in contact with wild boar and released or escaped those found dead. domestic hogs. Today, more than 4 million your eyes, nose, mouth, or a skin cut. Use clean, sharp knives for field dressing You and your family can get sick when wild hogs are found in at least 35 states. and butchering. field dressing an infected hog. Wild hogs destroy farmland and crops, Wear eye protection and rubber or latex You and your family can get sick when compete with native wildlife for food, and gloves (disposable or reusable) when butchering or eating undercooked meat. can spread disease to other animals and handling carcasses. You may start to feel sick a week to people. Hunting wild hogs is a popular sport Avoid direct contact (bare skin) with fluid months after coming into contact with among hunters, as well as a population or organs from the hog. control method supported by wildlife germs that cause brucellosis. Burn or bury disposable gloves and agencies. inedible parts of the carcass after Brucellosis Symptoms butchering. Fever Low appetite Wash hands as soon as possible with Chills Fatigue soap and warm water for 20 seconds or Sweating Joint pain more and dry hands with a clean cloth. Headache Muscle pain Clean all tools and reusable gloves used in field dressing and butchering with a disinfectant—such as dilute bleach. Do You Think You Have (Read the safety instructions on the label) Brucellosis? Diagnosis: If you have these symptoms and are at Wild Hogs & Disease risk, see your doctor immediately. Blood Food Safety Tips There are more than 24 diseases that tests can check for brucellosis. Wash hands often with soap and warm people can get from wild hogs. Most of Treatment: water for 20 seconds or more. these diseases make people sick when Antibiotics are drugs that can kill the Clean surfaces often with hot, soapy they eat undercooked meat. germs that cause brucellosis, and water. should be taken for 6 weeks or longer. Brucellosis is different– Separate raw pork from cooked pork The germs that cause brucellosis are Take all of the antibiotics as prescribed and other foods. spread among hogs through birthing fluids by your doctor to prevent the illness from Cook pork to an internal temperature of coming back. and semen. Infected hogs carry the germs 160° F using a food thermometer. for life. People may get the germs through If the illness comes back or is not contact with an infected hog’s blood, fluids, treated, you could have serious problems Chill raw and cooked pork promptly. or tissues (such as muscles, testicles, liver in your bones, joints, or heart. Rarely, For more information on Food Safety, visit: or other organs). brucellosis is fatal. www.foodsafety.gov .