Authorities call for proper cooking of wild game after 6 family members fell ill from parasite in bear meat

MINNEAPOLIS — The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reaffirmed the importance of properly cooking wild game after six people became ill from a parasite caused by undercooked bear meat served at a family reunion in South Dakota.

The six – one in South Dakota, four in Minnesota and one in Arizona – were infected when bear meat served rare was found to be contaminated with roundworms that cause trichinellosis, also known as trichinosis. Two of the people ate only the grilled vegetables with the meat. Although the meat had been frozen for 45 days, the trichinella worms belonged to a frost-resistant species.

“People who consume wild game meat should be aware that proper cooking is the only reliable way to kill Trichinella parasites and that infected meat can contaminate other foods,” the CDC said in its report on the epidemic last week.

The first case emerged after the 2022 Homecoming in a 29-year-old Minnesota man who had been hospitalized twice for fever, muscle aches and pain and swelling around the eyes, among other abnormalities. A meat sample from a black bear captured in Saskatchewan tested positive. In total, three of the victims were hospitalized. All six, aged 12 to 62, eventually recovered.

Trichinellosis has become rare in the United States. While it was once commonly associated with undercooked pork, most cases in the United States today are attributed to the consumption of wild game. From 2016 to 2022, seven outbreaks, including 35 probable and confirmed cases, were reported to the CDC. Bear meat was the suspected or confirmed source of most of these outbreaks.

The larvae can settle in intestinal, muscle, heart and brain tissue, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most patients recover completely within two to six months.

The CDC recommends cooking wild game to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius), as verified with a meat thermometer. The color of the meat is not a good indicator. Family members ate some of the meat before realizing it was undercooked and recooking it, according to the report. Raw and undercooked meat and their juices should be separated from other foods.