Trichinella

Trichinella is a parasitic roundworm that causes trichinosis, or trichinellosis and belongs to the Nematoda phylum.  1835 was the first recognition of the genus in larval stage.  As a larvae, it lives in skeletal muscle tissue and the adult worm lives in the epithelium tissue.  As this matures, it turns into a intramulticellular parasite.  

Domestic and wild animals and humans will contract this parasite.  This parasite is the smallest nematode, but the largest of intracellular parasites.  The normal route of infection is normally oral ingestion.  When one eats raw or undercooked meat that is infected with the larvae that is how one becomes infected.  Usually infection occurs in wild carnivorous or omnivorous animals such as bears, domestic pics, or wild boars.  Symptoms vary, but usually the first symptoms would be abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, nausea, and vomiting.  Muscle pain, headaches, fevers, and chills would follow after the first sign.  Severe cases may lead to one's death.  After a few months, for mild to moderate cases, symptoms should subside.  If one does ingest infected meat, then prescription drugs should be taken.  Worldwide, there is 10,000 estimates cases of trichinellosis that occurs every year.  Cook your pork.

Trichinellosis is acquired by ingesting meat containing cysts (encysted larvae)  of Trichinella. After exposure to gastric acid and pepsin, the larvae are released  from the cysts and invade the small bowel mucosa where they develop into adult worms  (female 2.2 mm in length, males 1.2 mm; life span in the small bowel: 4 weeks). After 1 week, the females release larvae  that migrate to the striated muscles where they encyst . Trichinella pseudospiralis, however, does not encyst. Encystment is completed in 4 to 5 weeks and the encysted larvae may remain viable for several years. Ingestion of the encysted larvae perpetuates the cycle. Rats and rodents are primarily responsible for maintaining the endemicity of this infection. Carnivorous/omnivorous animals, such as pigs or bears, feed on infected rodents or meat from other animals. Different animal hosts are implicated in the life cycle of the different species ofTrichinella. Humans are accidentally infected when eating improperly processed meat of these carnivorous animals (or eating food contaminated with such meat). http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/biology.html

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/