What are the risk factors for getting trichinosis?
The major risk factor for contracting trichinosis is eating raw or undercooked pork or wild game such as bear meat, wild boar meat, or other carnivore or omnivore meat. The risk of developing infection is related to the amount of larvae ingested. About 10 larvae per gram of meat (muscle) ingested result in a mild infection, about 50-500 result in a moderate infection while over 1,000 result in a severe infection. Consequently, reducing or eliminating the number of larvae in infected meat reduces both the risk and severity of infection. This is accomplished by cooking meat to a uniform temperature of 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher for at least a few minutes to kill encysted larvae. Freezing of pork meat to a temperature of -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) for one week reportedly kills the encysted larvae. However, this freezing technique for wild game meat may not be effective, as Trichinella in wild animals is usually not as susceptible to freeze kill
