At a glance
Bringing bushmeat into the U.S. is illegal. Bushmeat is meat from wild animals like rodents, monkeys or apes, and bats. Bushmeat can carry diseases that can spread to people. If you try to bring bushmeat to the U.S., it will be taken away and destroyed, and you may have to pay a fine.
What is bushmeat?
- The term "bushmeat" refers to meat that comes from wild animals in certain regions of the world, including Africa and other areas, and may pose a communicable disease risk.
- Bushmeat comes from a variety of wild animals, including bats, nonhuman primates (monkeys and apes), cane rats (grasscutters), and duiker (a type of antelope).
- Bushmeat is often consumed raw or after being minimally processed by smoking, drying, or salting. These minimal processing procedures are not sufficient to render the meat noninfectious.
Bushmeat is illegal
- It is illegal to bring bushmeat into the United States.
- Bushmeat, in any amount, found at U.S. ports of entry will be destroyed along with any personal items that may have come in contact with the bushmeat.
- There is a $250,000 fine for bringing bushmeat into the United States.
Health concerns
- Bushmeat can be infected with germs that can cause sickness in people, including orthoebolaviruses.
- Ebola is a rare and deadly disease that is spread through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick with or died from Ebola.
- Ebola can also be spread by handling infected animals, such as bats, duikers, and primates, or blood, fluids, or raw meat from these animals.
- Generally, Ebola is not spread by food. However, in Africa human infections have been associated with hunting, butchering, and processing meat from infected animals.
- To date, there have been no reports of human sickness in the United States from coming into contact with, preparing, or consuming bushmeat brought into the United States illegally.
Take action
- Do not bring bushmeat into the United States.
- Do not eat or handle bushmeat.
- Tell friends and family to avoid bushmeat, because it is illegal to bring it into the United States, and it can make people sick.
- If you must handle bushmeat, wear disposable gloves. When you remove your gloves, take care not to contaminate your hands, throw your gloves away in the trash, and then wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Clean all contaminated surfaces using a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered hosptial disinfectant from List Q. List L can also be used.
- If you choose to eat bushmeat, make sure it is cooked thoroughly.
More information
- To learn more about bushmeat, visit CDC's Importation web page.
- You can learn more about Ebola on CDC's Ebola web page.