Feeding raw hamburger to wildlife may expose them to which bacteria:

• A. Salmonella
• B. Campylobacter
• C. E. coli
• D. Listeria

Answer: (C)

Raw meat can carry bacteria from the animal’s gut, and grinding meat spreads those bacteria throughout the product. If wildlife eat raw hamburger, they’re directly exposed to whatever bacteria were in the meat, and those bacteria aren’t killed because there’s no cooking step. E. coli is a well-known contaminant linked to beef, especially ground beef, because it comes from cattle intestines and can be present throughout the ground meat. This makes it the most likely risk in raw beef exposure. While other bacteria like Salmonella, Campylobacter, or Listeria can occur in various foods, the beef–E. coli connection is the strongest and most commonly emphasized for raw ground meat.