Clinical Information

Trichinosis is an infection by the nematode parasite, Trichinella spiralis. The infection is acquired by ingestion of larvae in inadequately cooked, contaminated meat, especially pork, bear, and walrus meat. After ingestion, acid-pepsin digestion in the stomach liberates the larvae, which develop into adult worms in the small intestine. After fertilization, the female worm produces larvae that penetrate the mucosa and seed the skeletal muscles via the blood stream. The larvae coil and encyst in muscle fibers, remaining viable for up to several years.

Diarrhea is the most common symptom associated with intestinal infection with adult worms. Fever, periorbital swelling, muscle pain and swelling, pulmonary symptoms, and rash develop during systemic invasion by the larvae.