Toxoplasmosis infection associated with eating undercooked venison

Toxoplasmosis infection was documented in one Alabama and two South Carolina deer hunters in 1980. All three cases were acutely ill and required hospitalization. Physical findings included fever, leukopenia, and abnormal liver function tests. Two of the three patients showed infiltrates on chest x-ray. All three hunters had recently consumed raw or nearly raw venison and lacked other known risk factors for toxoplasmosis such as cat contact or eating other undercooked meats. In a serosurvey and questionnaire of 62 wildlife workers who regularly handled deer viscera, an association between seropositivity to Toxoplasma gondii and a history of eating raw or rare venison was found (p less than 0.05), but no significant association was found between seropositivity and any other risk factors. Eating inadequately cooked venison may represent an important vehicle of human toxoplasmosis infection.