Article  Family stricken with rare brain worms after eating undercooked bear

#1
C C Offline
It boggles my mind how often I see people eating rare-cooked meat, whether wild or domestic. I don't care how impolite it appears -- I poke into the middle to see what I've been served, and if it's still raw there -- forget it!
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https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/...ain-worms/

EXCERPTS: At first, they accidentally served it [the bear rare], which a few family members noticed before a decision was made to recook it. The rest of the reunion was unremarkable, and the family members departed to their homes in Arizona, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

But just days later, family members began falling ill. One, a 29-year-old male in Minnesota, sought care for a mysterious illness...

[...] The doctors suspected the man had a condition called trichinellosis and infection of Trichinella nematodes (roundworms). These dangerous parasites can be found worldwide, embedded into the muscle fibers of various carnivores and omnivores, ... But, it's quite rare to find them in humans in North America. ... The majority were linked to eating bear meat, but moose and wild boar meat are also common sources.

[...] Once eaten, larvae encased in the meat are released and begin to invade the small intestines (the gastrointestinal phase), causing pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. ... The larvae can end up all over, reaching skeletal muscles, the heart, and the brain, which is rich in oxygen. The systemic phase is marked by fever, periorbital edema, muscle pain, heart inflammation, and brain inflammation...

The man's symptoms fit the case, and several tests confirmed the parasitic infection. Of eight interviewed family members present for the bear-meat meal, six people had illnesses matching trichinellosis (ranging in age from 12 to 62), and three of them were hospitalized, including the 12-year-old. Four of the six sickened people had eaten the bear meat, while two only ate vegetables that were cooked alongside the meat and cross-contaminated.

Experts at the CDC obtained leftover frozen samples of the bear meat, which revealed moving larvae. Testing identified the worm as Trichinella nativa, a species that is resistant to freezing... (MORE - missing details)
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#2
Syne Offline
Yeah, whether it makes me a heathen or not, I like all my meat well-done.
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