Here is some food for thought!
17 Wigglers
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Whats a wriggler?
nomad 11
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did this story have a happy ending ? talk about having the willies ? 18th of what ?
DeepseekerADS
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https://simplyhealth.today/10-not-s...w_us&msclkid=01c3de7337ef1098b3b0803dc5caa81b
10 Not-So-Known Facts About Trichinosis
Trichinosis is the official term used to describe an infection caused by the roundworm parasite. The roundworm parasite relies on the body of its host to produce and survive. These types of parasitic infections are more prominent in carnivorous animals such as foxes or bears. They are also common in omnivorous animals such as wild boar and domesticated pigs.
The infection begins when the host eats undercooked or even raw meat that contains the larvae of the roundworm. Once the larvae enter the digestive system, it matures into adulthood over the course of a few weeks. Once the larvae enter adulthood, it would produce its own set of larvae that will then travel through different areas in your body including muscle and other tissue before maturing and repeating the cycle.
It’s easy to treat trichinosis with medications, but there are actually ways of preventing it such as good hygiene. Here are eight facts about trichinosis that you might not know.
1. The symptoms
In the first few days after you initially ingested the larvae of the roundworm parasite, they will mature into adulthood and begin their reproductive process. During this period in their life cycle, the symptoms that you experience could include abdominal pain, fatigue, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.
Once the larvae embeds themselves in the muscle after traveling through the bloodstream, your symptoms will likely shift into the pink eye, achy joints, muscle pain, cough, weakness, chills, fevers, headaches, extreme thirst, swelling of the face, poor coordination, lung problems, and even cardiac issues. These symptoms could last for as long as months in more severe cases.
The severity of the infection is dependent on the volume of larvae present in the tainted food that was ingested. If you notice these symptoms, you might be suffering from a cause of trichinosis. You should talk to your doctor during the earlier round of symptoms so that you can halt the infection before it reaches the second phase.
2. Some cases are asymptomatic
Bear in mind that while the symptoms above are relatively common for those who suffer from trichinosis, there are also some cases in which the hosts of the parasite will be completely asymptomatic. This is more prominent in cases that are milder.
As we mentioned earlier, the severity of trichinosis is dependent on the volume of larvae, therefore a mild case is defined as one that involves less roundworm larvae. If you have trichinosis but only have relatively few parasites within your body, there may be no symptoms that manifest at all — and any that do may be too mild or vague to diagnose.
That said, just because your case is asymptomatic, it doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way. Most asymptomatic cases often develop the telltale signs as the parasitic infection progresses and as the larvae grow in numbers. The symptoms can also become more pronounced as the parasite begins to travel around different areas of your body.
3. It can be prevented
One of the important thing to note about roundworm infections is the fact that they can be prevented if you take a few precautionary measures. The easiest way to protect yourself from a roundworm infection is by cooking any meat that you eat at temperatures no lower than 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re eating pork, you should raise your minimum temperature to no less than 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook your pork well and don’t turn the temperature down until all of the areas that were once pink turn completely grey. If your pork is thinner than six inches, you could freeze it at a temperature of five degrees Fahrenheit for as long as 20 days to kill off any bacteria. Bear in mind that this process isn’t as effective when it comes to killing off any larvae in wild meat. Be sure that any knives or utensils are also clean when you prepare the meat.
4. Feeding garbage to pigs spreads it
Many farmers in impoverished countries feed their swine garbage because it is cheaper than pig feed. Swine that eat garbage has long been identified as the culprit for spreading trichinosis through the consumption of pork.
When you feed garbage to your livestock, you make it very easy for the parasite to find a host that it can use to multiply in. Once the parasite uses the livestock to multiply, it will put humans at risk if they end up eating the meat that was taken from that host. The best way to prevent this risk is by buying actual pig feed and feeding that to your livestock instead of garbage.
Many outbreaks of trichinosis have been linked to tainted pork, and as such, many governments have begin placing stricter rules for what you can and cannot feed your pigs. Feeding your pigs right will not only reduce the risk of trichinosis, but it will also protect you from a hefty government fine.
5. Undercooked meat can cause it
While tainted pork is one of the common ways that the roundworm parasite gets into humans, it isn’t the only way. In fact, the concept that tainted meat is the culprit for trichinosis infections in humans extends to all proteins. This could include the undercooked meat taken from a horse bear, pig, or even walrus. Any animal that is infected with the roundworm parasite will hold larvae in its meat that can infect humans once the meat makes its way into the digestive system.
Animal to animal transmission occurs whenever one animal eats another — with the second animal, the prey, being an infected host. Horses and pigs don’t eat other animals when in captivity, but they can become infected when eating garbage that contains tainted meat or larvae. Cattle don’t eat meat, but some beef can become tainted if it was ground using the same machine used to process tainted pork.
6. Wild meats are high-risk
Wild meats hold a higher risk of being infected with roundworm larvae in comparison to meat that was raised and ranched on a farm. Various public health departments all around the world have corroborated this claim — each conducting their own study based on the statistics of their local area.
Don’t get us wrong, commercial meats could also be infected, but wild animals such as walruses and bears could have higher odds of being infected with the roundworm parasite. As such, many trichinosis outbreaks occur in those who hunt wild game such as hunters. It’s important to inspect any meat you hunt down to ensure that there are no parasites present.
Even a single larva could be an indicator that more are lurking about. All that being said, remember to take the same measures when eating commercial meat as the roundworm parasite can also make its way into the food that commercial ranchers sell.
7. Irradiating meat can prevent it
One of the best ways to prevent the spread of trichinosis is by irradiating meat. The process of food irradiation is described as “the exposure of food and its respective packaging to ionizing radiation.” The radiation that it is exposed to is often generated through electric means but is sometimes also emitted by radioactive substances. This type of food treatment is used to extend the shelf life of various products as well as lower the risk of transmitting disease through food.
Even wild meat can become safe to eat following irradiation as any larvae or adult parasites will surely be killed off. The only pest that would survive irradiation is the cockroach seeing as they have the ability to endure a nuclear bomb. There are other methods that can prolong the shelf life of a product, such as pickling or smoking, but none of these are effective in killing the roundworm larvae that may be lurking within.
8. Extreme risks
Complications that are caused by trichinosis is actually rather rare. Most of these complications only happen in very severe cases. That said it’s still worth talking about the worst-case scenario so that you can understand the risk of becoming infected with the roundworm parasite. In the event of a severe infection, the larvae could make their way to your vital organs. This could lead to permanent and potentially fatal damage.
This includes inflammation of the heart, brain, spinal cord, and lungs. Inflammation of the lungs is, of course, more commonly referred to as pneumonia. Pneumonia is more common in trichinosis in comparison to the other complications mentioned here as the lungs are closer to the digestive system than the brain or spinal cord is.
Many trichinosis-caused deaths are due to pneumonia. While these risks are rare, they are not non-existent, and as such, you should do everything in your power to ensure that you and your family are not exposed to the roundworm parasite.
10 Not-So-Known Facts About Trichinosis
Trichinosis is the official term used to describe an infection caused by the roundworm parasite. The roundworm parasite relies on the body of its host to produce and survive. These types of parasitic infections are more prominent in carnivorous animals such as foxes or bears. They are also common in omnivorous animals such as wild boar and domesticated pigs.
The infection begins when the host eats undercooked or even raw meat that contains the larvae of the roundworm. Once the larvae enter the digestive system, it matures into adulthood over the course of a few weeks. Once the larvae enter adulthood, it would produce its own set of larvae that will then travel through different areas in your body including muscle and other tissue before maturing and repeating the cycle.
It’s easy to treat trichinosis with medications, but there are actually ways of preventing it such as good hygiene. Here are eight facts about trichinosis that you might not know.
1. The symptoms
In the first few days after you initially ingested the larvae of the roundworm parasite, they will mature into adulthood and begin their reproductive process. During this period in their life cycle, the symptoms that you experience could include abdominal pain, fatigue, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.
Once the larvae embeds themselves in the muscle after traveling through the bloodstream, your symptoms will likely shift into the pink eye, achy joints, muscle pain, cough, weakness, chills, fevers, headaches, extreme thirst, swelling of the face, poor coordination, lung problems, and even cardiac issues. These symptoms could last for as long as months in more severe cases.
The severity of the infection is dependent on the volume of larvae present in the tainted food that was ingested. If you notice these symptoms, you might be suffering from a cause of trichinosis. You should talk to your doctor during the earlier round of symptoms so that you can halt the infection before it reaches the second phase.
2. Some cases are asymptomatic
Bear in mind that while the symptoms above are relatively common for those who suffer from trichinosis, there are also some cases in which the hosts of the parasite will be completely asymptomatic. This is more prominent in cases that are milder.
As we mentioned earlier, the severity of trichinosis is dependent on the volume of larvae, therefore a mild case is defined as one that involves less roundworm larvae. If you have trichinosis but only have relatively few parasites within your body, there may be no symptoms that manifest at all — and any that do may be too mild or vague to diagnose.
That said, just because your case is asymptomatic, it doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way. Most asymptomatic cases often develop the telltale signs as the parasitic infection progresses and as the larvae grow in numbers. The symptoms can also become more pronounced as the parasite begins to travel around different areas of your body.
3. It can be prevented
One of the important thing to note about roundworm infections is the fact that they can be prevented if you take a few precautionary measures. The easiest way to protect yourself from a roundworm infection is by cooking any meat that you eat at temperatures no lower than 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re eating pork, you should raise your minimum temperature to no less than 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook your pork well and don’t turn the temperature down until all of the areas that were once pink turn completely grey. If your pork is thinner than six inches, you could freeze it at a temperature of five degrees Fahrenheit for as long as 20 days to kill off any bacteria. Bear in mind that this process isn’t as effective when it comes to killing off any larvae in wild meat. Be sure that any knives or utensils are also clean when you prepare the meat.
4. Feeding garbage to pigs spreads it
Many farmers in impoverished countries feed their swine garbage because it is cheaper than pig feed. Swine that eat garbage has long been identified as the culprit for spreading trichinosis through the consumption of pork.
When you feed garbage to your livestock, you make it very easy for the parasite to find a host that it can use to multiply in. Once the parasite uses the livestock to multiply, it will put humans at risk if they end up eating the meat that was taken from that host. The best way to prevent this risk is by buying actual pig feed and feeding that to your livestock instead of garbage.
Many outbreaks of trichinosis have been linked to tainted pork, and as such, many governments have begin placing stricter rules for what you can and cannot feed your pigs. Feeding your pigs right will not only reduce the risk of trichinosis, but it will also protect you from a hefty government fine.
5. Undercooked meat can cause it
While tainted pork is one of the common ways that the roundworm parasite gets into humans, it isn’t the only way. In fact, the concept that tainted meat is the culprit for trichinosis infections in humans extends to all proteins. This could include the undercooked meat taken from a horse bear, pig, or even walrus. Any animal that is infected with the roundworm parasite will hold larvae in its meat that can infect humans once the meat makes its way into the digestive system.
Animal to animal transmission occurs whenever one animal eats another — with the second animal, the prey, being an infected host. Horses and pigs don’t eat other animals when in captivity, but they can become infected when eating garbage that contains tainted meat or larvae. Cattle don’t eat meat, but some beef can become tainted if it was ground using the same machine used to process tainted pork.
6. Wild meats are high-risk
Wild meats hold a higher risk of being infected with roundworm larvae in comparison to meat that was raised and ranched on a farm. Various public health departments all around the world have corroborated this claim — each conducting their own study based on the statistics of their local area.
Don’t get us wrong, commercial meats could also be infected, but wild animals such as walruses and bears could have higher odds of being infected with the roundworm parasite. As such, many trichinosis outbreaks occur in those who hunt wild game such as hunters. It’s important to inspect any meat you hunt down to ensure that there are no parasites present.
Even a single larva could be an indicator that more are lurking about. All that being said, remember to take the same measures when eating commercial meat as the roundworm parasite can also make its way into the food that commercial ranchers sell.
7. Irradiating meat can prevent it
One of the best ways to prevent the spread of trichinosis is by irradiating meat. The process of food irradiation is described as “the exposure of food and its respective packaging to ionizing radiation.” The radiation that it is exposed to is often generated through electric means but is sometimes also emitted by radioactive substances. This type of food treatment is used to extend the shelf life of various products as well as lower the risk of transmitting disease through food.
Even wild meat can become safe to eat following irradiation as any larvae or adult parasites will surely be killed off. The only pest that would survive irradiation is the cockroach seeing as they have the ability to endure a nuclear bomb. There are other methods that can prolong the shelf life of a product, such as pickling or smoking, but none of these are effective in killing the roundworm larvae that may be lurking within.
8. Extreme risks
Complications that are caused by trichinosis is actually rather rare. Most of these complications only happen in very severe cases. That said it’s still worth talking about the worst-case scenario so that you can understand the risk of becoming infected with the roundworm parasite. In the event of a severe infection, the larvae could make their way to your vital organs. This could lead to permanent and potentially fatal damage.
This includes inflammation of the heart, brain, spinal cord, and lungs. Inflammation of the lungs is, of course, more commonly referred to as pneumonia. Pneumonia is more common in trichinosis in comparison to the other complications mentioned here as the lungs are closer to the digestive system than the brain or spinal cord is.
Many trichinosis-caused deaths are due to pneumonia. While these risks are rare, they are not non-existent, and as such, you should do everything in your power to ensure that you and your family are not exposed to the roundworm parasite.
islamoradamark
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Thanks for the good to know read
