Trichinella spiralis Daniel Jackson

Review of Trichinella spiralis Contracted by eating raw or undercooked pork or wild game with larvae in muscle Causes trichinosis Hosts: pigs, bears, rats, walrus, wolves, scavenging animals, and humans

Historical Accounts Late 1800’s found in Egypt Mummies Alaskan Eskimos

History of T. spiralis James Paget 1st yr student at the London Medical School Feb. 2, 1835, autopsy of 51 yr old Italian bricklayer “sandy diaphragm”

History of T. spiralis cont… Richard Owen Assistant curator to the Royal College of Surgeons Heard about Paget’s findings Drew pictures and submitted them to the Royal Society

History of Life Cycle Rudolph Virchow German pathologist Between the mid 1850’s to late 1870’s discovered the life cycle of Trichinella spiralis Witnessed another cadaver with white flecks and confirmed that it was Trichinella spiralis Fed a large quantity of meat to his dog Dissected the dead dog four days later and found adult worms in the digestive tract

Cultural Practices and T. spiralis Eating raw or undercooked pork In Thailand, 200-600 more cases are reported around the Thai New Year because of the consumption of communal pork Delicacy in some parts of Europe

Distribution In Eastern Europe some swine herds have over 50% trichinosis infection rates

Infrastructure Ecosystem utilization International trade of meats Source of food Humans and animals International trade of meats Legislation prohibiting feeding of raw meats to animals Increased commercial and home freezing of pork Public awareness

Treatments for T. spiralis Animals Ivermectin Febendazole Humans Thiabendazole No side effects Food preservative

Preventing T. spiralis Cook meat until juices run clear or internal temperature is 144º Fahrenheit Freeze pork less than 6 inches thick 20 days at 5º F 3 days at -4º F Cook wild game thoroughly Don’t allow hogs to eat uncooked carcasses Curing, drying, smoking or microwaving meat doesn’t kill worms

Anthropogenic Effects Economic development Education Habitat transformation Loss of habitat leads to a decrease in animal hosts

References http://www.trichinella.org/ http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2005/Trichinella/ http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm