A FAMILY has been hit with a rare parasitic disease that sent six of them to hospital after they ate bear meat kebabs at a reunion.
The worrying outbreak caused the South Dakota family to quickly develop a high fever, severe muscle pain and swelling around the eyes after they were accidentally served dangerously under cooked meat.
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The raw bear is thought to have carried the nasty parasitic disease inside it that is typically caused by a specific roundworm larvae.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report revealed the outbreak stemmed from a nine-person family reunion back in July 2022.
Six people ended up testing positive with antibodies to Trichinella – a type of roundworm hardly ever seen in the past 30 years – weeks after the kebabs were eaten.
The antibodies would’ve only turned up in the families body if they had developed trichinellosis from ingesting Trichinella larvae.
After a CDC investigation into the illness, they found that one person had decided to bring along some frozen black bear meat to the dinner.
The bear had been hunted in northern Canada 45 days earlier and stored in a freezer until it was thawed out for the feast.
After struggling to tell if the bear was fully cooked due to it being a dark meat the family gambled and tucked into their raw kebabs completely unaware of the consequences.
A week later, a 29-year-old man developed a number of symptoms synonymous with trichinellosis.
He was hospitalised twice in the span of a few days complaining of a fever, severe muscle pain and swelling around the eyes.
Tests later revealed he was positive for antibodies to Trichinella.
One by one, another five family members came down with very similar symptoms with some even experiencing stomach pain and diarrhoea.
Interestingly enough, two other members of the clan didn’t develop any symptoms but were exposed to the parasite.
The CDC couldn’t confirm if the ninth family member had been exposed to Trichinella or not.
The CDC tested the remaining frozen meat and detected larvae from the same roundworm species.
Two of the infected people at the family reunion ate the vegetables without the meat, the CDC said.
Trichinella-infected meat can result in cross-contamination, so meat and its juices should be separated from other foods during cooking.
The family made kebabs with the thawed meat, alongside grilled vegetables.
Three of the family members were hospitalized, each of whom had consumed the bear meat.
They received a treatment called albendazole, which kills parasitic worms and their larvae.
All six people recovered from the disease.
The CDC report warns that freezing meat won’t kill all species of Trichinella.
The bear meat at the family reunion, for instance, was contaminated with a species found in Arctic bears that’s resistant to freezing.
“Persons who consume meat from wild game animals should be aware that that adequate cooking is the only reliable way to kill Trichinella parasites,” the report’s authors wrote.
Roundworm disease
By Tom Malley
According to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roundworm disease is linked to undercooked meat contaminated with roundworm larvae.
Victims often develop antibodies for Trichinella, a type of roundworm.
Such infections are rare, however.
From January 2016 to December 2022, the CDC identified seven trichinellosis outbreaks in the US involving 35 probable or confirmed cases.
Most were linked to bear meat.
Trichinella-infected meat can result in cross-contamination, so those attempting to cook it should separate the meat and its juices from other foods.
The CDC report has also warned that freezing the meat won’t necessarily kill all species of Trichinella, either.
The bear meat at the family reunion, for instance, was contaminated with a species found in Arctic bears that’s resistant to freezing.