In the autumn of 2020, a Florida pastor was ridden in a medical mystery that had doctors puzzled for years. What started as some chest pain escalated into an unrelenting battle with his health, the patient resisting treatment after treatment. Regardless of how many times he visited the doctor, the symptoms remained, frustrating and perplexing both him and his physicians. The case became strange when experts finally pinpointed an improbable culprit: a meal he had consumed years earlier. What was lurking in his blood?
An Invisible Chronic Disease
Doctors at a hospital in Gainesville were unable to determine the origin of the man’s infection. After numerous trips to the hospital and courses of antibiotics, his symptoms came back time and time again. There was something infecting his body, but tests couldn’t pick anything up.
The Medical History of the Patient Made Things Complicated
The 77-year-old gentleman already had several conditions: Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and congestive heart failure. He had more than one heart device implant, which surgeons first suspected to be infected. But why was this the case?
A Culture-Negative Mystery
Advanced medical investigations did not discover any bacteria or fungi. The infection was “culture-negative,” which means that there was no pathogen found by routine laboratory tests. The patient still remained ill however, and physicians continued investigating.
A Breakthrough Discovery
Doctors had a breakthrough lead in the autumn of 2020. Blood tests revealed clumps of bacteria. Scans indicated an infection where his implant had been placed. This wasn’t an ordinary infection: it needed specific testing through the Florida health department and CDC. The surprising find? Brucella suis.
What is Brucella suis?
Brucella suis is an uncommon, very contagious bacterium that exists predominantly in pigs. In humans, it causes brucellosis, a disease causing fever and arthralgia, and severe complications, including heart infections, spinal meningitis, and even complications in the brain. But how did the pastor get infected by this rare bacterium?
The Fatal Source—A Gifted Dinner
He wasn’t a hunter himself, but he had been given feral pig meat by a local hunter in 2017. He touched the raw meat with his hands before consumption. That singular episode most probably infected him with the deadly bacteria. But that was perhaps only one source of the infection.
An Issue of Public Health
When physicians recognized B. suis, they needed to act quickly. The bacteria is highly contagious, so laboratory personnel who handled the man’s specimens were at risk. At least three health care professionals needed to be observed and treated prophylactically to prevent the disease.
A Long-Awaited Cure
At last, after all his years of hardship, the man was given proper treatment: antibiotics for six weeks. His infection cleared and he was eventually able to get a new heart implant. Routine check-ups revealed no brucellosis signs at all: he had finally defeated the enigmatic illness. However, is it possible that the patient’s overall diet could have added to his susceptibility to infection and aggravated his other health issues?
Warning Florida Residents’ Story
More than a million feral pigs exist only in Florida, and they are commonly hunted. This brings out the quiet dangers of eating wild meat. Humans are threatened by lethal bacteria found in raw meat. Could this be a clear warning to hunters and meat enthusiasts?
Should You Be Worried?
Brucellosis is not common, but this episode proves it’s a very real threat. If you hunt, kill, or get game meat from the wild, be careful: use gloves, cook meat thoroughly, and be aware of the dangers. For Floridians, the next “gamey gift” might arrive with a bit more than a strange taste.
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