- Thought a bear was dangerous? Try taking on the worms that live inside the bear.
A rare steak or a few pieces of sushi can be a real treat. But eating undercooked meat always carries with it the risk of catching something nasty.
The family of our story found that out the hard way.
Eight members of the family had gathered in South Dakota for a get-together. One of them decided to delight his family members with a rare delicacy — shish kebabs made from bear meat.
However, they didn’t cook the meat as thoroughly as they should’ve. Just a couple of days after they had returned home, multiple members of the family began falling seriously ill.
At various hospitals, the doctors confirmed each family member was infected by the Trichinella roundworm originating from the bear meat. If left untreated, the worms can eventually worm their way into the brain and cause serious inflammation.
Fortunately, that’s not the case here. All family members recovered — but we bet they invested in meat thermometers afterward.
A (Literally) Rare Treat
The case of serial worm infection was detailed in a recent medical case study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That said, the incident itself happened way back in the summer of 2022.
In late June 2022, a family spread all over the U.S. decided they should get together for a good time. So, eight members of the family gathered in South Dakota.
At the party, one family member pulled a surprise out of their freezer. It was black bear meat they had acquired during a hunting trip to Canada a month earlier.
As instructed by the hunting outfitter, the family member had frozen the meat to kill potential parasites. Delighted with the surprise, the family prepared shish kebabs from the meat and vegetables and started grilling them.
While they cooked the meat, they realized they had a little problem. They didn’t have a thermometer at hand to check the meat’s temperature.
In case you’ve never seen raw bear meat, it’s very, very dark. As such, it can be hard to tell when it’s properly cooked through.
The family, however, decided to eyeball it and served the kebabs when they thought they were ready. Unfortunately, they weren’t, and those who tried them bit into still-raw meat.
Oh, well. They plopped the kebabs back on the grill and cooked them to perfection.
No harm done, right? After all, the meat was frozen so it should be good, right?
Wrong.
Unbearable Symptoms
After some hugs and let’s-stay-in-touches, the family members returned to their homes in Arizona, Minnesota, and South Dakota. A couple of days later, the excrement hit the fan.
In total, six out of the eight family members developed a strange illness. Yet, a 29-year-old man from Minnesota possibly had it the worst.
He began experiencing a slew of weird symptoms, including fever, incredibly sore muscles, and swollen eyes. Laboratory tests also showed that his white blood cell count was through the roof.
The man went to see doctors four over only 17 days and was hospitalized twice. Yet, it was only on his second hospital trip that the man brought up the bear meat.
That’s when the doctors knew immediately what was going on, and tests confirmed it. The man was full of Trichinella worms.
It was the same story with all the family members who fell ill. The CDC confirmed four additional cases of trichinosis. Two cases were unconfirmed, but the family members’ symptoms are perfectly in line with worm problems.
The CDC also acquired some of the frozen bear meat. Indeed, it was crawling with Trichinella.
Luckily, there is a happy ending to this story. Three of the sick family members managed to expel the worms on their own, and the rest recovered with medication.
Worm Pain in the Membrane
Trichinella is an insidious parasitic nematode or roundworm. You can often find it living in the muscles of carnivores and omnivores, like bears, pigs, and walruses.
If you eat the infected meat, the worms’ eggs and larvae will get into your guts. They begin to hatch and launch the first phase of Trichinella infection.
In this phase, the worms multiply inside your intestines. You can expect to experience gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, and nausea.
Once the worms enter into their second generation, they’re ready to move on to the second infection phase. They start wandering away from the intestines and spread throughout your body, including the muscles, heart, and even the brain.
And that’s when the fever, swollen eyes, muscle pain, and heart and brain inflammation kick in. In worst cases, Trichinella infection can be fatal but the worms usually try to let you live — after all, you’re their home.
Trichinosis can be treated with medication, but the best way to avoid it is to properly cook your meat, especially wild game. Unlike what the hunting instructor told the bear-catching family member, freezing isn’t enough.
The types of Trichinella living in wild animals have adapted to survive freezing temperatures. Putting the meat in a freezer only lulls the worms to sleep, meaning they’ll be well-rested and ready to invade your body once you eat them.
So, buy that meat thermometer.