10 people may contract trichinosis from undercooked bear meat

That's difficult. Eating uncooked bear meat until it's finished. That's difficult. Run DMC's song isn't exactly like that, but undercooked bear meat could be alive. trichinella It contains parasites and, if ingested, can cause trichinosis, also known as trichinosis. And serving undercooked bear meat likely contributed to the 10 suspected cases of trichinosis in western North Carolina. According to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,alias MMWR.

The North Carolina Department of Public Health first realized something troubling was happening on November 29, 2023, when it received a call that someone was experiencing flu-like symptoms and facial swelling. I did. Further investigation revealed that the individual had attended a gathering where raw bear meat was served earlier that month. Just in case you're not in the habit of cooking bear meat, this was bear meat that hadn't been cooked to at least 165°F (74°C). That's the temperature required to kill a person. trichinella.

Public health officials ultimately investigated 34 participants at the rally, of whom 22 (65%) had ingested such bear meat at the venue, and 10 (45%) had subsequently been diagnosed with “trichinosis.” have experienced clinical signs or symptoms that are considered to be “possible”. Nine of them had facial swelling, six had muscle pain, and four had fever. Symptoms began appearing 7 to 26 days after eating bear meat, with a median time of 21 days.

These were considered likely infections because public health officials had to live with limited information. The patients did not return for complete blood tests to confirm whether they actually had trichinosis. Most of the cases were receiving the antihelminthic drug albendazole. Therefore, even if symptoms subsided, there was probably little incentive to return. Also, there was no bear meat left for clinical testing.

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Of note, patient ages ranged from 10 to 40 years, with a median of 17 years, and 6 of them were 18 years or younger. And getting teens to do things like come back for appointments and tests isn't always easy. Therefore, public health officials took available information and compared it to the 2014 State Council and Territorial Epidemiologist criteria for possible cases of trichinosis.

If you end up with trichinosis, it's not something you should ignore and walk away from. What happens depends on how many parasite larvae, encased in small cysts, are in the meat and then fall into the pie hole. If the number of larvae is relatively small, there may be no symptoms. As the cyst passes through the digestive tract, digestive fluids dissolve the sac surrounding the larva, allowing the larva to burrow into the wall of the small intestine. There they grow into adults and then mate with each other. At this time, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting may occur.

Once the Hank Pankie parasite invades the intestinal wall, the adult female parasite begins to lay larvae, which then enter the bloodstream through the intestinal wall. This gives you a highway to essentially every part of your body. They usually invade the muscle, where they curl up and form a cyst around them. This may sound adorable, but it's really not. There they can live for months or even years.

This muscle infiltration period tends to occur two to eight weeks after the initial infection, and you may experience muscle pain, tenderness, and weakness. This can be very severe and limit movement, breathing, and speech. As stated on the Mayo Clinic website. Symptoms may also include joint pain, headache, high fever, chills, skin inflammation and itching, swelling of the eyelids and face, redness and pain in the eyes, and sensitivity to light.

Now, considering that there are a large number of parasites living in the muscles, in most cases trichinosis does not cause serious complications. However, in rare cases, large numbers of roundworm larvae that migrate through the bloodstream can invade important parts of the body, such as the heart, causing myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) or pneumonia (inflammation of the lung tissue) in the lungs. It may cause. ), the brain can cause encephalitis (inflammation of brain tissue), and the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord can cause meningitis. These are serious complications that can be fatal. Approximately 0.2% of patients with trichinosis eventually die. Therefore, you can leave the parasites in the body, but it is better to take anti-helminth drugs like albendazole, even though they are not cheap, costing about $ 100 per course .

It's an even better idea not to get infected in the first place. Avoid eating raw or undercooked meat from bears, cougars, walruses, foxes, wild boars, and pigs. Cook such meat thoroughly until brown. Use a meat thermometer to see if it has reached the 165°F (74°C) threshold. Other cooking methods, such as smoking, salting, pickling, and microwaving, will probably not kill the parasite larvae. Also, be sure to wash your hands after handling raw meat. Thoroughly wash anything that may have come into contact with the meat and do not lick the meat grinder.