Can people become ill from handling or eating rattlesnake meat?

Rattlesnake meat is sold at rattlesnake roundups everywhere except in Pennsylvania. Many roundups kill rattlesnakes under unhygienic conditions, and, at several roundups, people have been observed gutting and skinning the snakes with their bare hands. Rattlesnakes carry potentially pathogenic organisms as a part of their normal gut flora, including many varieties of salmonella. This does not pose a public health threat when the animals are left in their natural habitats, but the butchering process and consumption of rattlesnake meat certainly expose both those doing the processing and those eating the meat to possible infection. Rattlesnakes also act as hosts to a wide variety of parasites, some of which could be passed on to humans in improperly prepared meat. Is it safe for the public to be touching live snakes? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the handling of live snakes can spread Salmonella. The CDC recommends that people most at risk—including children ...