PSA - Toxoplasmosis

[Crowmangler]

Undercooked Venison Can Cause Rare Blindness Disorder

Adam Crockett lay death-still and unblinking as a doctor pushed a needle into his right eyeball and withdrew built-up fluid. With that task complete, the doctor at the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland pushed a second needle deep into the back of Crockett’s eye, all the way to the retina. Stopping...

www.themeateater.com

Howdy all... I've hunted for over 35 years & I assume I'm not the only one that has never heard about this... a buddy told me about it today.

This is some crazy stuff, especially reading how it can be dormant in you for years without knowing it.

I love eating fresh tenderloin after a kill but I may at least wait till after freezing it a couple weeks?

Nowhere did it mention elk but I assume any ungulate could potentially be a carrier.

And 80% of bear tested positive.. damn.

And before you roast me this isn't meant to cause a bunch of drama or say the sky is falling or stop hunting... just passing along so we can all be informed.

 

[z987k]

Undercooked Venison Can Cause Rare Blindness Disorder

Adam Crockett lay death-still and unblinking as a doctor pushed a needle into his right eyeball and withdrew built-up fluid. With that task complete, the doctor at the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland pushed a second needle deep into the back of Crockett’s eye, all the way to the retina. Stopping...

www.themeateater.com

Howdy all... I've hunted for over 35 years & I assume I'm not the only one that has never heard about this... a buddy told me about it today.

This is some crazy stuff, especially reading how it can be dormant in you for years without knowing it.

I love eating fresh tenderloin after a kill but I may at least wait till after freezing it a couple weeks?

Nowhere did it mention elk but I assume any ungulate could potentially be a carrier.

And 80% of bear tested positive.. damn.

And before you roast me this isn't meant to cause a bunch of drama or say the sky is falling or stop hunting... just passing along so we can all be informed.

Bears are never safe to eat raw or undercooked, even if frozen. Just consider them all to have tric.

 

[RMM]

Very informative article. I didnt realize deer could carry toxoplasmosis. I'll definitely be freezing meat before I eat it from now on because I refuse to cook venison over medium rare.

 

[LongWayAround]

Thanks for sharing. I had barely heard of toxoplasmosis.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

I’m not worried, it sounds like most healthy people can handle exposure. I did find it interesting that at the bottom of the page on that article it linked me to “related stories” and one was about how to make venison carpaccio ie raw deer meat. I won’t be doing that anytime soon but I’ll keep eating my medium rare tenderloins and backstraps fresh


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[WCB]

I’m not worried, it sounds like most healthy people can handle exposure. I did find it interesting that at the bottom of the page on that article it linked me to “related stories” and one was about how to make venison carpaccio ie raw deer meat. I won’t be doing that anytime soon but I’ll keep eating my medium rare tenderloins and backstraps fresh


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I'd be a little worried...My dad got it 2 years ago in Kansas. Luckily he only has issues with his left eye and can still shoot right handed. Between him, my wife's grandma having Macular Degeneration, and my sister being legally blind due to being born premature and have retina issues. 1 major thing I don't mess with is vision. Easy enough to throw meat in a freezer for a few days and cook it up then.

 

[Desk Jockey]

This is news to me.

how would you know you had this shit, unless you had vision issues?

 

[WCB]

This is news to me.

how would you know you had this shit, unless you had vision issues?

kind of wouldn't...I know my dads buddies that also ate it the same time he did got sick a few days later but no vision issues. Of course this is during the height of the Covid b.s. so at first that is what they all had.

 

[yfarm]

Cats are the host, would be far more concerned with that litter box particularly if your cat roams outside. 50% of the worlds population of humans are infected, 11% in the US.
Oral transmission may occur through:

• Ingestion of raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison containing Toxoplasma cysts: Infection prevalence in countries where undercooked meat is traditionally eaten has been related to this transmission method. Tissue cysts may also be ingested during hand-to-mouth contact after handling undercooked meat, or from using knives, utensils, or cutting boards contaminated by raw meat.[46]
• Ingestion of unwashed fruit or vegetables that have been in contact with contaminated soil containing infected cat feces.[47]
• Ingestion of cat feces containing oocysts: This can occur through hand-to-mouth contact following gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, contact with children's sandpits; the parasite can survive in the environment for months.[48]
• Ingestion of untreated, unfiltered water through direct consumption or utilization of water for food preparation.[49]
• Ingestion of unpasteurized milk and milk products, particularly goat's milk.[citation needed]
• Ingestion of raw seafood.[

 

[grfox92]

It's hard to believe the percentage of deer carrying it is as high as the article states being that most people eat venison on the rare side and tons of people aren't contracting it.

I pull my venison once the meat thermometer hits 130. Anything my kids eat gets cooked to 145 to 150 so all good there.

I myself even after reading the article am not concerned. I'll keep cooking my kids wild game to 150. Maybe I'll try a piece and see if I like it that well done .

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[LongWayAround]

I’m not worried, it sounds like most healthy people can handle exposure. I did find it interesting that at the bottom of the page on that article it linked me to “related stories” and one was about how to make venison carpaccio ie raw deer meat. I won’t be doing that anytime soon but I’ll keep eating my medium rare tenderloins and backstraps fresh


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I also found that somewhat ironic. When I started reading, I immediately thought of Steve's frequent comments about eating raw game meat over the years.

 

[BBob]

This is news to me.

how would you know you had this shit, unless you had vision issues?

It’s estimated 50% of France’s population has it. It’s mostly benign and you’ll probably never know you have it unless you test for it.

It was once thought it might alter your thinking process and behavior but that’s been pretty much debunked. There’s a researcher here that works with the stuff so not the first time I’ve heard about it.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

One thing this will change for me is how I handle my next mountain lion, thinking back to February 2020, I killed a mountain lion Feb 21st, got real sick Feb 27th, I always thought maybe I somehow got a real early case of COVID, but thinking back on the symptoms I think I may have had Toxoplasmosis. I definitely handled that cat without gloves and ate a snack on the way down the mountain. I guess next time, if there is a next time I will wear gloves when handling a cat, or maybe not since I’ve likely been exposed already.


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