Every once in a while, a governmental department has to remind people not to do something that should be common sense. That’s why, when 10 people in North Carolina got themselves some parasitic worms, the CDC felt it necessary to release a report explaining how eating undercooked bear meat is perhaps not a great idea.
Trichinellosis is a parasitic infection caused by the roundworm Trichinella. People usually get it after eating raw or undercooked meat containing larvae. Some of its symptoms include fever, facial swelling, and muscle pain, all of which manifest weeks after consumption.
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Back in November 2024, 22 people at a North Carolina gathering ate bear meat that had not been cooked to a proper bear meat internal temperature of 165°F. Of those 22, 10 experienced some combination of the symptoms mentioned above, all within an average of 17 days after eating the undercooked bear meat. There is some cloudiness as to whether other members of the bear meat-eating party might’ve been affected.
Public health officials looked into the outbreak because you can’t be too careful nowadays, with so many foodborne illness outbreaks happening, especially with meat. The CDC says that the unreasonably expensive antiparasitic drug Albendazole, which sells for around $100, is the reason some of the parasitically infected folks delayed medical treatment.
Trichinella can be found in almost any kind of wild animal meats, but bear hunting has caught on quite a bit in recent years in North Carolina, hence the CDC’s newly released warning giving people a heads up on the possibility of getting a worm that will feast on you from within. Trichinellosis is rarely fatal, though if left untreated, it could lead to serious health issues like myocarditis, a serious heart condition, and encephalitis, also a serious condition, this time one that makes your brain swell. Not to mention the fact that the larvae can borrow their way into your vital organs to make a nice little home inside your body.
There’s really no reason that you should be eating bear meat, considering that there are grocery stores all over the place, even in some of the most rural parts of America. But if you’re going to do it for shits and giggles, buy yourself a meat thermometer and make sure you cook it to at least 165 degrees. That is, unless, you are specifically trying to invite parasitic worms into your body to turn your torso into an ant farm of sorts.
