Deer meat mystery: 10 men 'violently' ill after wild venison meal

Jackson County Health Department still doesn't know what made men sick

Jackson County Health Department still doesn't know what made men sick

WEBVTT 00:02.002 --> 00:03.003 VICTIMS 00:03.003 --> 00:03.003 TRYING TO FIND AN ANSWER TO THIS 00:03.003 --> 00:08.008 MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS. 00:08.008 --> 00:09.009 >> I KNEW SOMETHING WAS REALLY 00:09.009 --> 00:12.012 SERIOUS. 00:12.012 --> 00:13.013 >> SCOTT MATHISON'S RETREAT TO 00:13.013 --> 00:13.013 BLACK RIVER FALLS THREE WEEKS 00:13.013 --> 00:14.014 AGO WITH A DOZEN FRIENDS 00:14.014 --> 00:15.015 INCLUDED EATING HOME-COOKED WILD 00:15.015 --> 00:16.016 VENISON, THAT THEY'RE NOW 00:16.016 --> 00:21.021 CONVINCED MADE THEM SERIOUSLY 00:21.021 --> 00:22.022 ILL DAYS LATER. 00:22.022 --> 00:30.030 >> I WAS VIOLENTLY SHAKING. 00:30.030 --> 00:32.032 >> SCOTT SAID HE THOUGHT HE WAS 00:32.032 --> 00:32.032 GOING THROUGH THIS ALONE UNTIL 00:32.032 --> 00:33.033 HE WAS ABLE TO REACH OUT TO 00:33.033 --> 00:37.037 OTHERS AT THE SAME MEAL. 00:37.037 --> 00:37.037 >> I FIND OUT ANOTHER ONE WAS 00:37.037 --> 00:46.046 SICK. 00:46.046 --> 00:49.049 WE DIDN'T HAVE -- 00:49.049 --> 00:56.056 >> NO GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEMS. 00:56.056 --> 01:00.060 ANTIBIOTICS SEEMED TO HELP. 01:00.060 --> 01:00.060 THE JACKSON COUNTY HEALTH 01:00.060 --> 01:02.062 DEPARTMENT TELLS 12 NEWS THEY 01:02.062 --> 01:03.063 ARE LOOKING INTO IT, SAYING WE 01:03.063 --> 01:03.063 ARE AWARE OF THIS CASE BUT THERE 01:03.063 --> 01:04.064 REALLY IS NO CONCERN TO THE 01:04.064 --> 01:09.069 PUBLIC. 01:09.069 --> 01:13.073 >> NOW WE WANT ANSWERS. 01:09.069 --> 01:13.073 >> SCOTT SAYS OTHERS COULD

Deer meat mystery: 10 men 'violently' ill after wild venison meal

Jackson County Health Department still doesn't know what made men sick

A Brookfield man says he and 10 of his friends all became violently ill after sharing a meal of home-cooked wild venison, but what made them sick remains a mystery.Scott Mathison said the symptoms didn't appear for five days after his church retreat to Black River Falls October 1st. "I could feel the life leaving my body. I knew something was something really serious," Mathison said Friday. "I was violently shaking, had a 104 (degree) fever when my wife took me in to urgent care. If I wouldn't have been treated, I'm not sure I would've came through that." While the symptoms included night sweats and high fevers, the lack of gastro-intestinal issues convinced Mathison that he didn't have food poisoning. And he later learned that he wasn't alone in feeling ill. "I found out one of the other guys was sick, and then I found another one was sick and so we started calling and checking and we were all having the exact same symptoms, and we realized we didn't have the flu," he said.Mathison said their doctors still don't know what ailed the men, but antibiotics seem to help. An official with the Jackson County Health Department told WISN 12 NEWS that experts are looking into it. "We're aware of this case but there's really no concern for the public at this point," Public Health Manager Ellen Moldenhauer said. Mathison said he and the others can only hope further testing reveals what they're dealing with. "We're all so fatigued and so tired, and now we want answers," he said.With deer hunting season right around the corner, he said others could benefit from knowing why they got sick.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. —

A Brookfield man says he and 10 of his friends all became violently ill after sharing a meal of home-cooked wild venison, but what made them sick remains a mystery.

Scott Mathison said the symptoms didn't appear for five days after his church retreat to Black River Falls October 1st.

"I could feel the life leaving my body. I knew something was something really serious," Mathison said Friday. "I was violently shaking, had a 104 (degree) fever when my wife took me in to urgent care. If I wouldn't have been treated, I'm not sure I would've came through that."

While the symptoms included night sweats and high fevers, the lack of gastro-intestinal issues convinced Mathison that he didn't have food poisoning. And he later learned that he wasn't alone in feeling ill.

"I found out one of the other guys was sick, and then I found another one was sick and so we started calling and checking and we were all having the exact same symptoms, and we realized we didn't have the flu," he said.

Mathison said their doctors still don't know what ailed the men, but antibiotics seem to help.

An official with the Jackson County Health Department told WISN 12 NEWS that experts are looking into it.

"We're aware of this case but there's really no concern for the public at this point," Public Health Manager Ellen Moldenhauer said.

Mathison said he and the others can only hope further testing reveals what they're dealing with.

"We're all so fatigued and so tired, and now we want answers," he said.

With deer hunting season right around the corner, he said others could benefit from knowing why they got sick.

Deer meat mystery: 10 men 'violently' ill after wild venison meal

Jackson County Health Department still doesn't know what made men sick

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