Ten-year-old falls seriously ill in North Carolina after being fed bizarre animals at a family barbecue
Barbecue goers in North Carolina became sick with parasites after being served bear meat, a new CDC report has confirmed.
In November 2023, ten unidentified people reported fever, facial swelling and muscle pain about three weeks after the event.
All attendees, the youngest of whom was only 10 years old, reported consuming undercooked bear meat during the event.
Officials with the North Carolina Division of Public Health said that based on the patients’ symptoms, they had become ill with trichinellosis, a rare parasitic infection that occurs only 15 times a year in the U.S.
Participants at a North Carolina barbecue became ill with a rare parasitic infection after eating undercooked bear meat (stock image)
The graph above shows how long it took for the barbecue goers to develop symptoms of trichinellosis after consuming the bear meat
Trichinellosis, also called trichinosis, is caused by Trichinella roundworms.
According to the Mayo Clinic, these parasites typically infect bears, cougars, walruses, foxes, wild boars and domestic pigs.
People can come into contact with trichinellosis by consuming immature forms of these worms, called larvae, which are found around raw or undercooked meat of these animals.
Over the course of several weeks, those worms grow in a person’s intestines and produce more larvae that travel through the bloodstream to different parts of the body before burying themselves in muscle tissue.
Because it takes several weeks, many patients do not experience any complaints immediately. According to the CDC’s MMWR report released Thursday, it took 21 days for the majority of infected patients to start showing symptoms.
The average patient age was 17 years, with sick barbecue attendees ranging from 10 to 40 years old.
Of the ten suspected cases, nine patients had facial swelling, six had muscle pain and four had fever.
Although mild cases usually get better on their own, severe cases can lead to lung and heart damage. According to the CDC, on average, one in 200 patients with severe cases dies.
The infection can be treated with antiparasitic medications, although these can cost up to $100 per course.
It is unclear at what temperature the contaminated meat was cooked or where it was harvested, but the CDC recommended that cooking venison to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the only reliable way to kill trichinella parasites.