> wrote in message
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> DISEASES CAUSED BY PORK
>
> The following lists show germs or parasites that are found
> in pork and some diseases caused by them. Many of these
> diseases are contagious while some are proven fatal.
>
> PARASITIC DISEASES
>
> a) TRICHINELLA SPIRATIS ( Trichina worms )
> It is the most dangerous parasite to man ( Rheumatism and
> muscular pain). The infected persons shown no symptoms, recover
> very slowly some die, some reduced to permanent invalids. No one
> is immune from this disease and there is no cure.


Trichinellosis Outbreak
Esther Marva,* Alex Markovics,? Michael Gdalevich,* Nehama Asor,* Chantal
Sadik,* and Alex Leventhal*
*Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel; and ?Kimron Veterinary Institute,
Beit-Dagan, Israel

Suggested citation for this article


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To the Editor: Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the nematode
Trichinella. Although now uncommon as a result of public health control
measures, trichinellosis outbreaks have been reported in the United States (1),
Europe (2,3), Mexico (4), Thailand (5), Canada (6), Lebanon (7-10), and
elsewhere.

In Israel, the disease is rare because most Jewish and Muslim citizens avoid
eating pork. Until 1997, only 6 small outbreaks were reported in humans; they
occurred mostly in the Christian Arab population. However, from 1998 to 2004, 10
similar trichinellosis outbreaks involving 200 Thai migrant agricultural workers
occurred. The workers all took part in festive meals whose main dish was
uninspected wild boar, hunted in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, near the
Lebanese border. Wild boar was also the source of several large outbreaks that
were reported from 1975 to 1997 in southern Lebanon (7-10).




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Trichinellosis surveillance--United States, 1997-2001.

Roy SL, Lopez AS, Schantz PM.

Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, USA.

PROBLEM/CONDITION: Trichinellosis is a parasitic disease caused by
tissue-dwelling roundworms of the species Trichinella spiralis. The organism is
acquired by eating Trichinella-infected meat products. The disease has variable
clinical manifestations, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal. In the United
States, trichinellosis has caused hundreds of preventable cases of illness and
occasional deaths. The national trichinellosis surveillance system has
documented a steady decline in the reported incidence of this disease, as well
as a change in its epidemiology. REPORTING PERIOD COVERED: This report
summarizes surveillance data for trichinellosis in the United States for
1997-2001. DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM: Trichinellosis became a nationally reportable
disease in 1966, but statistics have been kept on the disease since 1947. The
national trichinellosis surveillance system is a passive system that relies on
existing resources at the local, state, and federal levels. Cases are diagnosed
based on clinical history with laboratory confirmation. Cases are reported
weekly to CDC through the National Electronic Telecommunications System for
Surveillance (NETSS). Detailed data regarding signs and symptoms, diagnostic
tests, and food consumption are gathered by using a supplementary standardized
surveillance form and are reported to CDC by fax or mail. This information is
compared with NETSS data several times a year by CDC staff. Discrepancies are
reviewed with the state health departments. The purpose of the surveillance
system is to determine the incidence of trichinellosis, to maintain awareness of
the disease, to monitor epidemiologic changes, to identify outbreaks, to guide
prevention efforts, and to measure the effectiveness of those efforts. RESULTS:
Although trichinellosis was associated historically with eating
Trichinella-infected pork from domesticated sources, wild game meat was the most
common source of infection during 1997-2001. During this 5-year period, 72 cases
were reported to CDC. Of these, 31 (43%) cases were associated with eating wild
game: 29 with bear meat, one with cougar meat, and one with wild boar meat. In
comparison, only 12 (17%) cases were associated with eating commercial pork
products, including four cases traced to a foreign source. Nine (13%) cases were
associated with eating noncommercial pork from home-raised or direct-from-farm
swine where U.S. commercial pork production industry standards and Regulations
do not apply. INTERPRETATIONS: The majority of the decline in reported
trichinellosis cases is a result of improved observance of standards and
regulations in the U.S. commercial pork industry, which has altered animal
husbandry practices resulting in reduced Trichinella prevalence among swine.
PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS: Because of the change in epidemiology of trichinellosis
and the continued occurrence of cases among consumers of wild game meat and
noncommercial pork, more targeted public education is needed to further reduce
the incidence of this disease.