According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), six relatives became infected with brain worms after eating the meat of a black bear killed by a family member.
A group of nine members of an extended family met in South Dakota in May 2022 and ate grilled kebabs with vegetables and black bear meat that one of the family members had killed in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, in May 2022, the CDC said in a report published May 23 in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
After some people ate some of the meat, they realized it was not cooked through, so they cooked it some more, according to the report from the CDC and state health officials.
Six days later, a family member, a 29-year-old man, was hospitalized with symptoms including fever, severe muscle pain, swelling around the eyes, and eosinophils (high numbers of white blood cells that support the immune system).
During a second hospitalization, medical professionals learned of the consumption of bear meat and treated him with albendazole. The drug is used to treat trichinellosis, a disease caused by infection with microscopic and parasitic roundworms.
The bear meat was frozen, and while freezing kills many Trichinella worms, others are resistant to freezing. When humans eat infected meat, larvae can develop and produce more parasites.
Worms can travel through the body to the heart and brain, causing inflammation of the heart muscle and brain, where they can form cysts and potentially cause seizures.
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Six infected with roundworms at family gathering
Symptoms of trichinellosis may include abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, according to the CDC.
However, some people who become infected with the worms may not show any symptoms at all, infectious disease specialist Dr. Céline Gounder said in a recent interview with “CBS Mornings.” Gounder added that these parasites usually “get shielded from your immune system and calcify.” CBS News first reported on the CDC report.
After the Minnesota Department of Health launched an investigation, researchers learned that a total of six people from the congregation were infected – four who had eaten meat and two who had eaten only vegetables. They ranged in age from 12 to 62 and lived in Minnesota, Arizona and South Dakota, according to the report.
Two others were hospitalized and also treated with albendazole, the CDC said.
How can eating bear meat cause brain worms?
Black bears are likely carriers of roundworms. According to the CDC, up to 24% of black bears in Canada and Alaska may be infected. The bear meat in this case was tested and found to contain Trichinella nativa, a type of roundworm that is resistant to freezing.
Still, reported cases of trichinellosis are rare. The CDC has recorded only seven outbreaks from January 2016 to December 2022, including 35 probable and confirmed cases, the agency said. Bear meat was the confirmed or suspected source of infection in most of these outbreaks, the CDC said.
Bear meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 74 degrees to kill the parasites. Since infected meat can contaminate other foods, the raw meat should be stored and prepared separately, the agency said.
Brainworms were in the news recently after the New York Times reported that doctors found a dead worm in the brain of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. years ago.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brain worms attack family gatherings after eating black bear meat: CDC
