TDK conference 2024

The inspection of game collection sites is of great importance for several reasons: protecting the health of people consuming game meat, ensuring public health standards, and safeguarding wildlife. These sites are often located in inhabited areas, making the strict adherence to epidemiological regulations crucial for the protection of domestic animals.

The aim of this study was to gather up-to-date data on the game collection sites whether the facilities designed for storing hunted game meat with the necessary conditions. The inspections began in the fall of 2023, during the main hunting season, when the 43/2011 VM regulation was still in effect. Therefore, compliance with the epidemiological guidelines and the requirements of this regulation were checked. A checklist was completed at each site. In November 2023, a new regulation (60/2023 AM decree) concerning game collection sites came into effect, therefore the original checklist was modified.

A total of 33 checklist were completed during our inspections (20 in 2023 and 13 in 2024). Several sites had significant food hygiene and public health deficiencies. It was also revealed that due to the increased cleaning and disinfection measures rusting of equipment was observed which requires continuous maintenance of cold storage surfaces. In some cases, the height of the rooms for hanging large game, such as red deer stags were not suitable in the cold storage unites. We concluded that occasional official inspections of game collection sites are necessary.

In Pest County 13 game collection sites were inspected last year. One was perfect, five sites had one deficiency, six had two deficiencies, and one had three deficiencies. The veterinary authority ordered the correction of these issues. The traceability of large game through the use of their ear tag identification was ensured in everywhere.