Trichinella spiralis is a parasitic roundworm that causes trichinosis in humans and other animals. It is commonly transmitted through the consumption of raw or undercooked pork or wild game infected with the larvae of T. spiralis. The roundworm has a complete digestive system and is bilaterally symmetric. Infection is most common in areas where pigs are fed raw garbage and in certain wild carnivorous animals. Signs and symptoms of trichinosis include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, abdominal pain, and muscle pains as the larvae encyst in different body parts. Risk of infection can be prevented by thoroughly cooking all meat products.

1. Trichinella spiralis
By David Meyer

2. What is it?
 Parasitic disease
 Commonly called the trichina worm
 Caused by eating raw or undercooked
pork or wild game products that are
infected with the larvae of the
roundworm

3. Morphology
 Have complete digestive system
 Round cross section
 Bilaterally symmetric
 Has both mouth and anus

4. Where is it?
 Most common in the developing world
and where pigs are commonly fed raw
garbage.
 Infection occurs commonly in certain wild
carnivorous animals and in domestic
pigs.

5. Diversity and Spread of Trichinella
Just the pink horizontal
stripes are T. spiralis

6. Life Cycle

8. Signs and Symptoms
First Stage
Second Stage
 Nausea
 Headaches
 Diarrhea
 Fever
 Vomiting
 Chills
 Fatigue
 Eye swelling
 Fever
 Achy joints
 Abdominal pain
 Muscle pains
 Hemorrhages
 Itchy skin
As worms encyst in different body parts….

9. Incubation Period
 Abdominal symptoms occur 1-2 days
after infection.
 Further symptoms usually occur 2-8
weeks after consuming contaminated
meat.
 Severity often depends on the number of
worms ingested.
 Mild cases of this disease are often
mistaken for the flu.

10. Risk Factors
 Eating raw or undercooked meats,
especially pork and wild game.
 It is not transmitted from one person to
another.

11. Diagnosis
 A blood test or muscle biopsy
 Stool studies can detect adult worms,
females being 3mm long and males
about half that size.

12. Female
Male

13. Treatment
 Corticosteroids-treat joint pain and
inflammation. Treat symptoms more than
anything.
 Thiabendazole-kills the adult worms, but
there is no treatment however, that kills
the larvae.

14. Prevention
 Cooking meat products thoroughly.
 Freezing pork than 6 inches thick for 20
days at 5 °F or three days at −4 °F kills
larval worms.
 Cooking all meat fed to pigs or wild
game.

15. More Information
 Cdc.gov
 Wikipedia.com
 World Health Organization

16. QUESTIONS??