Several members of the same family were infected with an intestinal worm called Trichinella spiralis, which causes trichinellosis, after eating undercooked meat, more specifically, bear skewers served rare.
- In the United States, six members of a family were infected with the parasite Trichinella spiralis after eating bleeding black bear skewers.
- One of them developed serious symptoms, requiring two hospitalizations.
- Cooking meat at a temperature [d’au moins] 165°F (74°C) is necessary to kill Trichinella spiralis, according to the CDC.
Eating black bear could be dangerous… In the United States, in the state of South Dakota, a family wanted to eat this meat. Result: several members, aged 12 to 62, were infected with an intestinal worm called Trichinella spiralisaccording to a press release from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Six people infected during a meal with undercooked meat
The story takes place in 2022. Eight members of the same family share a meal and eat black bear skewers served rare. The meat had been hunted by one of the members in Canada and remained frozen for 45 days before being served during this meal.
“People who eat meat from wild game should be aware that proper cooking is the only reliable way to kill Trichinella parasites and that infected meat can contaminate other foods”, we can read in the CDC press release, which recalls that “cooking meat at a temperature [d’au moins] 165°F (74°C) is necessary to kill Trichinella spiralis”.
According to the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Anses), the Trichinella spiralis “is a microscopic parasite of certain monogastric mammals (…) [qui] causes trichinellosis, a disease of animal origin transmissible to humans”. The symptoms of this infection are, according to the MSD Manualabdominal cramps, muscle pain, diarrhea and fever.
These are the ailments from which one of the members, a 29-year-old man, suffered six days after eating the meat. In three weeks, because of this infection, he was hospitalized twice. It was during the second hospitalization that doctors discovered the origin of his condition: the consumption of bleeding black bear meat.
There trichinellosis, an infection that can be serious
To treat him, the doctors prescribed a treatment based on albendazolewho is “used to treat infections caused by worms (…), we can read on the website of CBS. It prevents the worm from absorbing sugar, causing it to lose energy and die”.
“The investigation identified six cases of trichinellosis, including two in people consuming only vegetables”, explains the CDC press release. This therefore means that the food, in contact with the meat, was also contaminated by Trichinella spiralis.
The people infected during this meal are now out of danger, but the consequences could have been serious. As ANSES indicates, in humans, trichinellosis can lead to serious symptoms, with sometimes irreversible after-effects.