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Published Date: 2000-06-15 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Foodborne disease, bear meat - Russia: RFI
Archive Number: 20000615.0961

FOODBORNE DISEASE, BEAR MEAT - RUSSIA: RFI
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1997
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Foodborne disease, bear meat, fatal - Siberia (02) 19971227010601
Foodborne disease, bear meat, fatal - Siberia (03) 19971229173248
Date: 14 Jun 2000
From: Marjorie P. Pollack <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
Source: Itar-Tass domestic news highlights for 14 Jun 2000

KHABAROVSK - 50 people in Vysokogorsk village, the Primorskiy Kraj
(Maritime Territory) in the Russian Far East, were hospitalized after
eating bear meat. The local medics have examined other 700 people in
Vysokogrosk. 3 of them are suspected of having the same disease.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[There have been multiple reports of outbreaks of trichinosis associated
with ingestion of bear meat. Several of the reports have come from Russia
(see references 10 and 12). A PubMed search came up with the following
selection of articles demonstrating the distribution of cases associated
with bear meat -- includes Japan, the USA (primarily but not exclusively
Alaska), Thailand, China and Russia. There were also case reports from
Italy and Germany suggesting that European bears were also infected. This
article does not mention trichinosis as an etiology so further information
would be very much appreciated to clarify the outbreak.
1: Yamaguchi T. Present status of trichinellosis in Japan. Southeast Asian
J Trop Med Public Health. 1991 Dec;22 Suppl:295-301.
2: Woodard TL. An outbreak of trichinosis traced to Alaskan black bear
meat. Alaska Med. 1988 Mar-Apr;30(2):41-4.
3: Schmitt N, Bowmer EJ, Simon PC, Arneil AS, Clark DA. Trichinosis from
bear meat and adulterated pork products: a major outbreak in British
Columbia, 1971. Can Med Assoc J. 1972 Dec 9;107(11):1087-91.
4: Emson HE, Baltzan MA, Wiens HE. Trichinosis in Saskatchewan. An outbreak
due to infected bear meat. Can Med Assoc J. 1972 Apr 22;106(8):897-8.
5: Moorhead A, Grunenwald PE, Dietz VJ, Schantz PM. Trichinellosis in the
United States, 1991-1996: declining but not gone. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1999
Jan;60(1):66-9.
6: McAuley JB, Michelson MK, Schantz PM. Trichinosis surveillance, United
States, 1987-1990. Mor Mortal Wkly Rep CDC Surveill Summ. 1991
Dec;40(3):35-42.
7: Bailey TM, Schantz PM. Trichinosis surveillance, United States, 1986.
Mor Mortal Wkly Rep CDC Surveill Summ. 1988 Dec;37(5):1-8.
8: Bailey TM, Schantz PM. Trichinosis surveillance, 1985. Mor Mortal Wkly
Rep CDC Surveill Summ. 1987 Nov;36(2):1-5.
9: Trichinosis--Maine, Alaska. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1986 Jan
24;35(3):33-5.
10: Lepekhin AV, Zharova NV, Sakerina OA. [Vermox treatment of acute
trichinelliasis recorded for the first time in Tomsk Province. Med
Parazitol (Mosk). 1984 Nov-Dec;(6):77-8. Russian.
11: Wang BK, Luo XP. [A report of 58 cases of human trichinosis caused by
eating raw bear meat. Chung Hua Yu Fang I Hsueh Tsa Chih. 1981
May;15(3):143-4. Chinese.
12: Rykov VA, Kramarenko GA. [Case of trichinosis with lethal outcome due
to consumption of brown bear meat in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Arkh
Patol. 1979;41(7):53-5. Russian.
13: Trichinosis associated with meat from a grizzly bear--Alaska. MMWR Morb
Mortal Wkly Rep. 1981 Mar 20;30(10):115-6, 121.
14: Doege TC, Thienprasit P, Headington JT, Pongprot B, Tarawanich S.
Trichinosis and raw bear meat in Thailand. Lancet. 1969 Mar 1;1(7592):459-61.
- Mod. MPP
[Another interesting possibility is toxoplasmosis, which has been reported
to be very common in bears and, at the case report level, possibly occurred
in one patient in whom there may have been a dual infection acquired from
the consumption of bear meat. _Trichinella_ larvae were present in the
muscle of the patient and were identified in the bear steaks, and a marked
rise in titer of antibodies to _Toxoplasma gondii_ was demonstrated in the
patient by both the fluorescent antibody and Sabin-Feldman dye test
methods. For interested readers, the citation is: Jordan, G. W., J. Theis,
C. M. Fuller, and P. D. Hoeprich. 1975. Bear meat trichinosis with a
concomitant serologic response to _Toxoplasma gondii_. Am J Med Sci.
269:251-7.
Far more likely than toxoplasmosis, however, is trichinosis (trichinosis),
well summarized by Dr. Pollack, above and known to occur in large
outbreaks. - Man. Ed. DS
....................................mpp/ds
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