Wild pig charged me

[AlohaSteven]

Beachboy, please do describe in more detail the disease which you say appears to have infected Big Island swine. What are the symptoms in swine? Are you sure it is a virus and do you know the name of the virus? Are you saying this biological agent (virus, bacteria, helminth, fungus, etc) can jump species from pigs to humans, or rather that eating thoroughly cooked pig flesh from an infected animal produces "spit farts" in humans?

Hotcatz, could you please describe the traps used for wild pig in Puna? I have wondered about such, particularly as regards how to not accidentally catch kids, dogs, or pets of various sorts in pig traps.

There are some solid epidemiological reasons to not leave dead pig carcasses laying about, nor even just their entrails. Odor and flies are just the start of it. Here following are links are to quick and informative reads --with a useful diagram-- on a nematode worm which actually killed one entire branch of my mother's family about a hundred years ago (her great uncle, great aunt, and their five children). This same disease was detected in pigs in Hawaii as far back as 1938 and has caused human infections as recently as 1986, that I can find record of:

Trichinosis fact sheet, via New Zealand.
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesmh/1232?Open

CDC report on trichinosis in Hawaii, 1986.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000853.htm

Early study of Trichinella spiralis in the Hawaiian Islands, 1938.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4582480

New Zealand's Ministry of Health notes:
"Managing the risk of trichinosis for feral pig hunters
There is a risk that feral pigs may be infected with Trichinella. This means pig hunters are particularly important in the management and control of this parasite. Hunters should be aware of the following:

* Capture, transfer and release of feral pigs can spread infection into new areas, and should not occur.

* When feral pigs are captured and killed, discarded offal and off-cuts should be buried to avoid scavenging by wild animals, perpetuating infection in wildlife reservoirs.

* Persons butchering feral pigs and handling meat should take standard hygienic precautions, such as thoroughly washing hands, knives and preparation surfaces following contact with raw meat."



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