Game for wild boar meat?

TNP PHOTO: Melissa Chue

Responding to the National Parks Board's decision to cull the boars in the Lower Peirce Reservoir area, a Straits Times reader wrote to suggest tendering wild boar meat to hawkers since it is "regarded as a delicacy by some food lovers".

But how safe is it to consume wild boar meat here?

While the meat is edible, an expert has warned that it hosts pathogens which cause diseases such as viral hepatitis E and swine fever.

He added that infection can come about by eating infected meat that is not properly cooked or by open skin contact with blood and tissue fluids of infected boars.