Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 11:59:53 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Re: Pork and raptors In-Reply-To: <013d01c2d762$791e7040$6401a8c0@HERKY> Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Re the question on feeding raw pork to raptors... Trichinosis is caused by a parasitic roundworm (Trichinella spiralis) that is, as George said, virtually unknown in the USA. The larvae of the worm are encysted in the flesh of the pig and when pork is eaten insufficiently cooked, the larvae excysts and invades the tissues of the host. The disease is spread by feeding worm-infested raw or undercooked pork scraps to pigs. It is rare because very few pigs, at least those raised for commercial purposes, are fed raw garbage. However, it can occur. When I in graduate school in Baltimore in the 1970s, one of our lab tech's husband ate some sausage that had been made by his grandmother (apparently from locally-raised pork). He developed trichinosis, and his symptoms were frightening -- not only severe, all-over body pain in all his muscles, and high fever, but delusions of persecution, hallucinations, and seizures. They had to restrain him in his hospital bed. The local hospital thought he had taken some sort of drug! When they finally took him over to Hopkins, it still took the doctors a while to diagnose it. The Hopkins physicians said that none of them, in all their years of practice at one of the top hospitals in the nation, had ever seen a case of trichinosis. Strangely, I have forgotten how they treated the infestation but he did recover eventually, However, I would assume that hawks and other birds would not be affected by the worm, even if it did occur in the pork. It is apparently a parasite of mammals. (I still cook pork really, really well...) Gail Mackiernan Colesville, MD (under 24" of snow!) gail@mdsg.umd.edu ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================