# Cooking an animal with plague?



## PS360 (Sep 10, 2010)

I was watching Globe Trekker; and this particular episode took place in Mongolia.

The host went hunting with a Mongolian who shot a marmot and then cooked it, and the host ate some of it, and on the voiceover he said “I later found out marmots can carry the plague and cooking won’t kill it”

I did some research and indeed eating an infected animal can make you sick, but nowhere could I find if it was ok to eat if you cooked it properly.

Anyone know if it does?


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## Jaspar (Feb 3, 2010)

PS360 said:


> I was watching Globe Trekker; and this particular episode took place in Mongolia.
> 
> The host went hunting with a Mongolian who shot a marmot and then cooked it, and the host ate some of it, and on the voiceover he said "I later found out marmots can carry the plague and cooking won't kill it"
> 
> ...


I wouldn't waste my time with it unless I felt it was the only chance I had to eat before starving to DEATH. Then, I wouldn't give a sh#%.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*If in doubt*

If in doubt, boil the meat. Substained boiling will kill bacteria and virial contaminates . Stay away from eating brains.


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## philjam (Dec 17, 2008)

BillM said:


> If in doubt, boil the meat. Substained boiling will kill bacteria and virial contaminates . Stay away from eating brains.


Plague is not transmitted by rodents. It is transmitted by the fleas on the rodent. There is a plague vaccine. Got vaccinated before shipping out to SEA.


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## MrSfstk8d (Jan 20, 2011)

Hmmm.. Wonder if I got that one in my coctail of injections before going to Korea. And how long it's good for.

Also, got rodded off the range before leaving and before coming home. **Shudder**


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## PS360 (Sep 10, 2010)

philjam said:


> Plague is not transmitted by rodents. It is transmitted by the fleas on the rodent. There is a plague vaccine. Got vaccinated before shipping out to SEA.


That is a common misconception.

"Transmission of Y. pestis to an uninfected individual is possible by any of the following means.[2]

droplet contact - coughing or sneezing on another person
direct physical contact - touching an infected person
indirect contact - usually by touching soil contamination or a contaminated surface
airborne transmission - if the microorganism can remain in the air for long periods
fecal-oral transmission - usually from contaminated food or water sources
vector borne transmission - carried by insects or other animals."


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## azurevirus (Jan 20, 2009)

I see on Bear Grylles or one of those shows where he caught a squirrel..cooked it black ...I mean it looked like charcoal..he said this was to kill any rabies as squirrel he said was a common carrier...think I would charcoal most any critter I killed in the wild..cept the bunnies..them I would just whisper in their ears.."they are out to get you..they even got recipes..RUN"


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## PS360 (Sep 10, 2010)

I’d think cooking would kill plague.
If you can kill anthrax by cooking the meat, plague should be no problem.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Let me connect that to canning. The reason you pressure can is to kill nasties (namely botulism) that can survive in boiling water. Thus obtaining high enough internal temperature of the meat is extremely important.

If I were eating a marmot there's a good chance I'd be cooking it over a fire because if it came to that I'd probably be just about out of other options. I'd be darn sure that the meat was cooked through reeaaallly well before I'd even chance it.


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## philjam (Dec 17, 2008)

PS360 said:


> That is a common misconception.
> 
> "Transmission of Y. pestis to an uninfected individual is possible by any of the following means.[2]
> 
> ...


85% of all human plague cases are from flea bites. Infected fleas leave rodents that die from the plague. These fleas look for another living blood host.


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