TRICHINELLOSIS, BADGER, HUMAN - RUSSIA (NOVOSIBIRSK) ************************************ A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org> ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org> Date: Fri 4 Feb 2005 From: Natalia Pchenitchnaia <crane@aaanet.ru> Source: News agency “Regions.ru” [trans. Corr.NP; edited] <http://www.regions.ru/article/any/id/1734405.html> Trichinellosis (badger), Novosibirsk region, Russia. ---------------------------------------- ------- 25 inhabitants of Kochkovsky district of Novosibirsk region are hospitalized with a diagnosis of trichinellosis and 6 of them are in serious condition in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Novosibirsk. The source of the outbreak is shish kebabs made from badger meat. Patients assure the attending physicians that shish kebab from a badger is tasty, exotic, and most important, cheap. But meat from these wild animals, as a rule, is infected by _Trichinella_, and because shish kebab is often not thoroughly cooked, the organisms may survive inside the meat. “We have not previously seen such big outbreak [of trichinellosis] from badger meat,” said Zinaida Figurenko, a physician in the Department of Infectious Diseases. However, trichinellosis from pork is frequent. -- ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org> [The Novosibirsk region is located in a southeast part of the Western Siberian plains, between the Ob and Irtysh rivers. The total area is 178 000 sq km, and the population approximately 2.7 million. - Corr.NP] [This is the 1st report in ProMED on _Trichinella_ in badgers in Russia. As underlined in previous ProMED-mail postings [see for instance 20010118.0144], trichinellosis is widespread in carnivores in Russia -- in wild boar and bears -- and also in domestic pigs. We presume that eating badgers is not commonplace, and therefore they are unlikely to be inspected by the veterinary service. - Mod.EP] [see also: 2004 ---- Trichinellosis - Ukraine (Zhitomirskaya) 20041228.3426 Trichinellosis - Russia (Novosibirsk) 20041207.3252 Trichinellosis - Russia (Kabardino-Balkaria) 20041201.3210 Trichinellosis - Russia (Tulskaya) 20040327.0845 2002 ---- Trichinellosis - Russia (Siberia) (04) 20021203.5954 2001 ---- Trichinellosis - Russia (Krasnodar) (02) 20010118.0144 2000 ---- Foodborne disease, bear meat - Russia: RFI 20000615.0961] .....................nr/ep/pg/mpp