A European perspective on wild game meat and public health.

This paper presents information on wild game meat from the public health and inspection perspectives, taking as a starting point the preparation and final adoption of European Union Directive 92/45/EEC on public health and animal health problems relating to the killing of wild game and the marketing of wild game meat. National definitions of small and large 'game' and the distribution and population levels of the different species can vary enormously. The vast majority of hunted game is killed with a firearm; other hunting methods (bow-hunting, trapping, capturing with decoys, etc.) are less significant. The importance of trade in wild game among the different Member States of the European Union is not well known and those statistics which are available are often incomplete, so that an evaluation is not possible. Wild game meat is the result of a process of natural selection and not of human 'production'. Veterinary health and hygiene legislation should cover and concentrate on the handling, processing, transport and storage of the meat of wild game.