The aim of the focus action was to check raw sausages from/with game meat for contamination with shiga/verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC synonym VTEC). These bacteria can cause severe gastrointestinal as well as kidney diseases in humans.

57 samples from all over Austria were examined:

• one sample was rejected as harmful due to shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli.

Wild animals, especially wild ruminants, are like domestic ruminants potential carriers of shiga/verotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC/STEC) without showing symptoms of disease themselves. Contamination with fecal pathogens is a common problem in the production of wild meat from the wild. The cause of these contaminations is usually a lack of hygiene, such as mistakes during evisceration. STEC are detected more frequently in wild meat, but also in wild raw sausages, than in comparable products from domestic animals. In recent years, there have been recalls of raw sausages with or from game meat due to contamination with STEC. Raw sausages from/with game meat from Austria, Italy and Germany were investigated.