Mystery illness needs urgent action

If we have an unidentified neurotoxin in New Zealand’s wild pig population which can, and has, killed hunting dogs, and if that toxin is what affected the Putaruru family, the risk . . . should not be under estimated.

The failure of medical professionals to accurately identify the cause of a mystery illness which struck down a Putaruru family in November suggests we could have a much more serious problem than accidental food poisoning.

When the family fell seriously ill, after eating wild pork curry, they were taken to hospital and some were semiconscious for 20 days. That is a great deal more serious than an upset stomach from eating poorly handled or improperly cooked game meat. They were initially treated for botulism, a particularly unpleasant and potentially fatal form of food poisoning but this has now been discounted by health professionals.

National Poisons Centre director Dr Adam Pomerleau, however, is unconvinced and has said botulism could not be ruled out, as it affects nerve conduction and muscle use and could produce a ‘‘vegetative state’’, preventing movement and speech, symptoms displayed by the affected family.

There were also uninformed claims that the controversial pesticide 1080 was the cause but this has now also been ruled out although anti-1080 groups have persisted with their claims. Some claimed the pesticide was ruled out too early and with inadequate testing but there have been so many false and outrageous claims by some anti-1080 groups that few take them seriously any more.

More recently, in a Radio New Zealand interview, Northland veterinarian Jenni Peterson revealed that vets and hunters have long been aware of a mysterious condition which affects dogs that have been fed wild pork. Why hunters and the vet remained silent for so long is hard to understand. Hunters may want to protect wild pig populations from a major eradication programme if they are the source of such a deadly illness but this information should have been made known much earlier. The vet said the illness, known to many wild pig hunters as ‘‘go slow’’, can be fatal and there was an urgent need for more investigation. She said some of the symptoms were shaking and collapse with exercise, also symptoms suffered by the Putaruru family.

The neurotoxin has yet to be identified, so there is no treatment for it. It is also unknown if it has the potential to affect humans as well as dogs. Cooking will kill bacteria but it will not destroy toxins.

It is also significant that the hunter who supplied the Putaruru family with the wild pork reported that his dog had died that day. Was it fed wild pork? That is one of many unanswered questions in a saga that is fast taking on a very serious look and should have set alarm bells ringing for the biosecurity team at the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Game Animal Council head Don Hammond has said thousands of people every day in New Zealand eat wild pork that’s been caught in the bush, calling it a major source of protein in many small rural areas.

But Hammond also said it was not possible to eat enough meat to get secondary poisoning. He does not say what his qualifications are to make that statement but he may well be correct on all points. He also said he suspected there was more to the sudden illness than just the meat but laboratory tests have so far failed to uncover anything of significance.

That still leaves the cause of the illness unidentified and therein lies the need for urgent action.

If we have an unidentified neurotoxin in New Zealand’s wild pig population which can, and has, killed hunting dogs, and if that toxin is what affected the Putaruru family, the risk to public health and our pork industry should not be under estimated.

Although the industry has come under severe pressure from animal rights groups and pork imports in recent years, New Zealand pork exports netted in excess of $4.5 billion last year. Imports on the other hand were valued at near $6b. Any suggestion that New Zealand has an unidentified pig disease in the wild could be the death knell of an industry already struggling to survive.

While the Waikato District Health Board has taken the matter as far as it can, and probably as far as its responsibilities dictate, this has now become a matter of national importance for either the Ministry of Health, the Ministry for Primary Industries or both. Doing nothing is not a responsible option.