Venison Deer Jerky | The International Outbreak Museum

Outbreak: Venison Jerky
Product: Venison Jerky	Investigation Start Date: 11/20/1995
Location: Benton County, Oregon	Etiology: E. coli (STEC) O157:H7
Earliest known case onset date: 11/13/1995	Latest case onset date: 11/20/1995
Confirmed / Presumptive Case Counts: 6 / 5	Positive Samples (Food / Environmental / Water): 2 / 2 / 0

Close-up of the food dehydrator used to make contaminated venison jerky.
Food dehydrators used to make venison jerky.
An epidemiologist swabs the band saw used to processed the deer in question; the band saw tested positive.
Dehydrated venison (jerky); this tested positive for E. coli O157.
Dr. Keene retrieving the field dressing from the deer that yielded the contaminated venison jerky; field dressing tested positive.

OUTBREAK SUMMARY:

At a time when ground beef was thought to be the source of all foodborne E. coli O157 infections, this was the first documentation of venison-associated E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Epidemiologists showed that deer can be colonized by E. coli O157:H7 and ultimately be a source of human infections. … Continue Reading ››