Brucellosis, swine hunters - USA (02): (TX) hunters

Date: Thu 17 Sep 2009
Source: Chron.com, Associated Press (AP) report [edited]
<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6623163.html>


A 76-year-old man from Tomball developed symptoms that turned out to
have nothing to do with swine flu but everything to do with hogs.
Doctors earlier in 2009 diagnosed him with brucellosis.

The man picked up the disease from feral hogs that have rooted through
parts of his property in Cherokee County. His brucellosis was traced
to him cleaning a feral hog in March 2009. He and his son butchered
one of the many feral hogs they had shot or trapped.

"People need to know that they should be cautious when they handle
those pigs, and always wear gloves," he said. "I wouldn't want what's
happened to me to happen to anybody."

The man faces months of more treatment for the disease, which is
caused by a bacterium linked to feral hogs. An estimated 2 million of
the wild creatures roam Texas. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday
[17 Sep 2009] that about 10 percent of Texas feral hogs test positive
for brucellosis bacteria, but the rate in eastern parts of the state
has been known to be higher. The disease can cause pregnant animals to
prematurely abort their young.