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Cause:
Intestinal
roundworm Trichinella spiralis.
Illness and treatment:
Ingested larvae
migrate and become encapsulated in muscle. Infection ranges
from asymptomatic to severe, depending on the dose. Diarrhea
may occur first. There is usually sudden onset of muscle
pain, swelling of the upper eyelids, and recurring fever.
Death can result from damage to heart muscle. Treatment
depends on the stage of illness at diagnosis.
Sources:
The infection is caused by
ingesting raw or insufficiently cooked meat from infected
animals. Historically, undercooked pork was a risk. Wild
game is now the most likely exposure in North America. There
is no person-to-person spread.
Additional risks:
Freezing meat will not
necessarily inactivate larvae of artic strains.
Prevention:
Cook or irradiate all wild
game to reliably kill larvae. Regulations to prevent
trichinosis require the cooking of garbage and offal fed to
swine.
Recent Washington trends:
In the past
decade only 2 cases have been reported. Recent exposures
have included bear and cougar meat eaten raw or undercooked.
2008:
No cases were reported.
Purpose of Reporting and
Surveillance
- To identify sources of transmission (e.g., contaminated
meat) and to prevent further transmission from such sources
- To educate exposed persons about signs and symptoms of
disease, thereby facilitating early diagnosis
- When the source of
infection appears to pose a risk for only a few individuals
(e.g., wild animal meat), to inform those individuals how
they can reduce their risk of exposure
Legal Reporting Requirements
-
Health care
providers: notifiable to local health jurisdiction
within 3 work days
-
Hospitals:
notifiable to local health jurisdiction within 3 work
days
-
Laboratories: no
requirements for reporting but specimen submission is
recommended
-
Local health
jurisdictions: notifiable to the Washington State
Department of Health (DOH) Communicable Disease
Epidemiology Section (CDES) within 7 days of case
investigation completion or summary information required
within 21 days
Last
update
November 2009 |
