Generally speaking, pathogenic bacteria can only cause illness when
they
grow in food to a sufficient number.  As a rule of thumb, this number
is
roughly 100,000 bacteria/gram of food.  Of course, persons with
underdeveloped or compromised immune systems or low levels of stomach
acid
will undergo illness at lower levels of contamination.

Most bacteria that colonize fresh meat are harmless 'spoilage'
bacteria.
Spoilage bacteria are hardier than pathogenic bacteria and hence help
to
outcompete pathogenic bacteria.  Therefore, raw meat is said to
"inspect
itself" because of this phenomenon and is not considered a 'hazardous'
food
by health authorities [a hazardous food is defined as one capable of
supporting the growth of pathogenic microorganisms].  Health
authorities
also assume that raw meat will be thoroughly cooked.

Ground beef may be an exception to the "inspect itself" rule because
the
grinding process can widely distribute bacteria such as e. coli
0157:h7
throughout, where spoilage bacteria may be insufficient to outcompete
the
pathogens.

Some pathogenic bacteria such as shigella, viruses, and parasites do
not
need to reach high levels in order to cause illness; a few may be
enough.
In fact, viruses and parasites do not grow in number in raw meat like
bacteria do.

Eating raw pork, bear, or bore presents a risk of infection from the
parasite trichanella spiralis.  After producing gastrointestinal
effects,
cysts of this parasite can migrate into joints and cause a painful
arthritic-like condition.

Pathogens arise from the intestinal tract of warm-blooded mammals.
Pathogens normally die-off in the environment.  Meat is essentially
sterile
tissue that can become contaminated from pathogens in the intestinal
tract
or feces of infected persons or animals.

It is true that we are wrongly obsessed with disinfecting surfaces and
using
anti-bacterial soaps in our home.  These disinfectants kill both the
pathogenic and the harmless environmental bacteria that outcompete the
pathogens.  With the beneficial environmental bacteria out of the way,
a few
residual pathogens can quickly grow in number on the near sterile
surfaces.
Overuse of anti-bacterial products is also causing the mutation of new
strains of invasive, anti-bacteria resistant pathogens.

Most food poisonings occur not from eating raw meat.  Instead, the
cooking
process kills most or all of the beneficial and pathogenic bacteria.
If the
cooking process does not kill all the pathogens or the cooked product
is
subject to recontamination of pathogens, from, say contact with the
same
cutting board or utensils that contacted the raw meat, then the
pathogens
have a near sterile surface for quick multiplication (bacteria double
in
number every 20 minutes).  After 4 or 5 hours of temperature abuse
(i.e.,
holding at room temperature), pathogenic bacteria will reach an
infective
dose of roughly 100,000 organisms/gram.

While the vast majority of food borne outbreaks are post-processing
(after-cooking) in nature, their are some inherent risks with eating
raw
meat or fish.  Above, I mentioned concerns with raw ground beef and
raw
pork, beef, or bore. Similarly, raw shellfish is notorious for
concentrating
bacterial pathogens and heavy metals from unsanitary shellfish beds.
Fermenting raw meat in an anaerobic environment (i.e., without
oxygen), such
as in a bag or package at room temperature can cause botulism
poisoning and
almost sure death.

I feel that a set of guidelines of safe food handling practices should
be
developed at the same time that a diet of raw meat and fish is being
advocated.

Rob