Trichinosis alarm in the Foggia area, after ten cases of trichinella in humans were reported in San Marco in Lamis. According to an article in the Repubblica, the cases would have risen to ten and the most accredited hypothesis by hygienists is that behind that parasite there is the consumption of uncontrolled wild boar meat which would have arrived on the tables of positive people after a hunt on Monti Dauni. A first positive person was transported to Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, the others would have received home therapy to eradicate the parasite responsible for those cysts that appeared on the skin. After reporting the cases of human trichinosis, the Foggia Local Health Authority’s Veterinary Hygiene Service for food of animal origin has launched a widespread control and verification activity on food products with suspected trichinella infestation.
Boar infected with trichinella, it’s an alarm. “The parasite can be lethal to humans”
What is trichinosis
Trichinosis is one of the zoonoses, i.e. diseases caused by agents transmitted directly or indirectly from animals to humans, and in this particular case it is caused by cylindrical worms belonging to the genus Trichinella, a parasite that initially locates in the intestine and then give rise to a new generation of larvae that migrate into the muscles, where they then encyst. The parasite is capable of infecting mammals, birds and reptiles, especially carnivores and omnivores (pig, fox, wild boar, dog, cat, man). In the past, the human outbreaks observed in Puglia were caused by the consumption of raw horse meat imported from abroad; pigs raised in the wild and illegally slaughtered; wild boar game sausage meat, raw or undercooked. in particular, the parasite resists for a long time in rotting meat and, when in nature the muscle tissue is ingested by another animal, the cycle resumes.
How do you get sick
Man becomes ill exclusively via food through the consumption of raw or insufficiently cooked meat, containing parasite larvae. The incubation period is generally between 8 and 15 days but can vary between 5 and 45 days, depending on the amount of parasites ingested. The classic symptomatology in 40% of cases is characterized by: diarrhea; muscle aches; rheumatic-like syndrome; weakness; eyelid edema; photophobia and fever. The parasite is able to resist freezing at -15 C° for a month but is inactivated when the cooking temperature in the heart of the meat reaches 70 C° for at least 4 minutes.
Symptoms and diagnosis
In humans, the clinical picture varies from asymptomatic infections to particularly serious cases, with some deaths. The classic symptomatology is characterized by diarrhea (which is present in about 40% of infected individuals), muscle pain, weakness, sweating, upper eyelid edema, photophobia and fever.
The diagnosis is suggested by the presence of marked eosinophilia (up to 70%), leukocytosis, increased muscle enzymes (Cpk) and confirmed by serological tests, or positive muscle biopsy for Trichinella.
The incubation period in humans is generally between 8 and 15 days but can vary between 5 and 45 days, depending on the amount of parasites ingested.
The parasite is able to resist freezing at -15 C° for a month but is inactivated when the cooking temperature in the heart of the meat reaches 70 C° for at least 4 minutes.