An American family became infected with a parasite after eating undercooked black bear kebabs.

Rare disease. Six family members contracted trichinosis after eating undercooked black bear during a family dinner in 2022 in South Dakota (USA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported this Thursday, May 23. “Six cases of trichinosis were identified among eight people who shared this meal, made from black bear meat harvested in Canada and frozen for 45 days,” the CDC said.

Served sparsely, skewered and with vegetables, the meat from the animal, which was hunted in Canada, remained frozen for 45 days. If the family thought they were doing the right thing by keeping things this way, following the advice of a clearly very ill-informed hunter (of the estate), then they were not. In fact, the Trichinella nativa larvae that live in the animal’s muscle cells are resistant to freezing. To kill trichinosis, meat must be cooked to a core temperature above 74°C, the US government agency reminds.

Six days after eating the bear kebab, a 29-year-old man went to the hospital with a fever, severe muscle pain and swelling around his eyes. I was treated four times. Due to these symptoms, which appeared in early July, the man was hospitalized twice within 17 days.

Vegetables are also contaminated

It was during the second hospitalization that doctors were able to trace the consumption of black bear meat, allowing the patient to be placed on “empirical albendazole-based treatment for trichinosis” to resolve the referral. This helps “prevent the worm from consuming sugar, causing it to lose energy and die,” the Minnesota Department of Health says.

Alerted after the initial diagnosis, Minnesota health authorities contacted the remaining family members, six of whom were found to be carriers of the parasite. Although some of them did not eat meat, they still remained carriers of the virus because they ate vegetables that came into contact with meat. In the end, everyone was helped in time and remained unharmed.

The severity of trichinosis depends on the number of parasites that have entered the body. Within a week of eating contaminated meat, illness may manifest as diarrhea and abdominal pain. One to three weeks after these manifestations, signs of allergies may appear, as well as fever, headache and muscle pain. In the most severe cases, complications such as pneumonia, heart or nerve problems can occur, sometimes leading to death.