Free: Contests & Raffles.
Fresh and pretty rare. I think I am going to try and get some meds cause the more I read about it the more I'm freaking out.
I've eaten it rare toward the med-rare temp. with no problems. Don't know if I just got lucky or
Trichinosis Cause: Intestinal roundworm Trichinella spiralis.Illness and treatment: Ingested larvae migrate and become encapsulated in muscle. Infection ranges from asymptomatic to severe, depending on the dose. Diarrhea may occur first. There is usually sudden onset of muscle pain, swelling of the upper eyelids, and recurring fever. Death can result from damage to heart muscle. Treatment depends on the stage of illness at diagnosis.Sources: The infection is caused by ingesting raw or insufficiently cooked meat from infected animals. Historically, undercooked pork was a risk. Wild game is now the most likely exposure in North America. There is no person-to-person spread.Additional risks: Freezing meat will not necessarily inactivate larvae of artic strains.Prevention: Cook or irradiate all wild game to reliably kill larvae. Regulations to prevent trichinosis require the cooking of garbage and offal fed to swine.Recent Washington trends: In the past decade only 2 cases have been reported. Exposures were bear and cougar meat eaten raw or undercooked.
Have to ask, how or why did you eat rare bear meat?
Would bear jerky be safe after a period of freezing prior to making jerky?
Trichinosis is nothing to ignore. You can also get it eating under-cooked nutria and raccoon. Incidentally, Jimmy Dean, known for sausage the song Big Bad John, revolutionized the methods of raising pork and pretty much caused the eradication of trichinosis in the commercial pork industry. He's a very interesting man with a lot of vision.
http://www.themeateater.com/videos/steven-rinella-explains-contracted-trichinosis-episode-meateater/ Watch this. Fairly informational.It may take a while for symptoms to show.
