Sarcocystis in Elk

Wyo_Roadhunter · Tuesday at 8:11 PM

So the elk I shot when I was getting him broke down to pack out I noticed some weird white zig zag things in mainly the back straps and tenderloins but there is some in his quarters too. I sent a picture to the local fish and game officer and he sent it to the disease expert. It turned out to be "sarcocystis". Sounds like it's not harmful to humans but he also said he wouldn't blame me to discard the meat. I told him I worked way to hard to just throw it away and wouldn't feel right if it's really not harmful to humans. So my question is what would you do or have you had it before? From what I've read hard freezing or cooking until atleast 150° internal temp kills it also.

Also posted in the game care forum but figured more people probably see this one.

nfh · Tuesday at 8:16 PM

Probably more safe than wal-mart injected meat/mcdonalds.

If it was me personally i would cut and get what I can.

I was told not to eat cwd deer. 15 years later still ok

Wyo_Roadhunter · Tuesday at 8:16 PM

nfh said:
Probably more safe than wal-mart injected meat/mcdonalds.

If it was me personally i would cut and get what I can.

I was told not to eat cwd deer. 15 years later still ok

That's kind of what I thought too

elks96 · 2024-10-30T08:49:21-0600

Yeah that would not bother me at all.... I am certain my freezer would kill it. At the very least I would make a pile of sausage from it all... Grind it up and you would never know it was there... As mentioned I am certain that we all eat way worse from the restaurants and grocery store... Also I bet there are piles of elk infected on some level that never get noticed. I remember it takes a chunk of time for the infection to develop the visual indication. I bet many elk have been consumed that had a minor or unnoticed infection.

Wyo_Roadhunter · 2024-10-30T09:52:26-0600

elks96 said:
Yeah that would not bother me at all.... I am certain my freezer would kill it. At the very least I would make a pile of sausage from it all... Grind it up and you would never know it was there... As mentioned I am certain that we all eat way worse from the restaurants and grocery store... Also I bet there are piles of elk infected on some level that never get noticed. I remember it takes a chunk of time for the infection to develop the visual indication. I bet many elk have been consumed that had a minor or unnoticed infection.

That's what i was thinking too. Just to be safe we are going to grind the whole thing and make summer sausage, burger, breakfast sausage etc since all that is cooked up to 160°. I'll be the MM crash test dummy on this

if you don't see me on here next hunting season don't eat the meat with white zig zags

hawkbill · 2024-10-30T10:11:12-0600

I picked up parasites when I was in Afghanistan in 98, they can really mess with your stomach and intestines. I’ve killed quite a few old predators with green belly and the meat just smells rancid. My daughter got mange mites from a wolf I killed. I’d be asking the Fish and Game for another Tag. Can you your girl friend and Dad stomach the meat and think about those little buddies screwing with your body. Nobody likes to throw away meat.

diablo · 2024-10-30T10:19:16-0600

gundog2 · 2024-10-30T12:38:22-0600

This sarcocystis is fairly common in ducks, often referred to as “rice breast disease”. I have always pitched the infected duck meat, but I have heard that it is okay to eat if properly cooked to 150 F or froze to -4 F. Should be okay of you freeze and cook it, but I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. Don’t feed uncooked parts to dogs or cats.

elkassassin · 2024-10-30T13:12:41-0600

Drop It Off At The G&F Office & Go Hunting Again!

elks96 · 2024-10-30T15:17:53-0600

Wyo_Roadhunter said:
That's what i was thinking too. Just to be safe we are going to grind the whole thing and make summer sausage, burger, breakfast sausage etc since all that is cooked up to 160°. I'll be the MM crash test dummy on this if you don't see me on here next hunting season don't eat the meat with white zig zags

I can test it for you.... Send it my way...

Sparks Shooter · 2024-10-30T16:54:15-0600

I would not, could not Sam-I-Am, I cannot eat the elk with the parasite hams.-----SS

Wyo_Roadhunter · 2024-10-30T17:10:04-0600

elkassassin said:
Drop It Off At The G&F Office & Go Hunting Again!

If i had more than 1 more day for bulls I probably would

Navaluk · 2024-10-31T11:39:04-0600

I killed a moose over by the snake river in Wyo in 22 that was full of tapeworm cysts or larva I guess you would say. Nasty doesn't begin to describe it.

Killed a WT doe in Idaho that had the same thing. Maybe in 06?

HntHrdr · 2024-10-31T12:01:01-0600

Killed a pile of ducks like that… I count them towards by bag and keep limits, but I’m not gonna eat it. Never seen it in an elk, that is a huge bummer… not sure what I would do… maybe toss it? Or cut out the bad?

Buckfever34 · 2024-10-31T13:35:23-0600

I'm not sure what I'd do in this situation.

At a minimum I'd freeze before considering eating, I think.

Wyo_Roadhunter · 2024-10-31T13:35:57-0600

Navaluk said:
I killed a moose over by the snake river in Wyo in 22 that was full of tapeworm cysts or larva I guess you would say. Nasty doesn't begin to describe it.

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Killed a WT doe in Idaho that had the same thing. Maybe in 06?

Those are way nastier looking than what was in my elk wow!