# Parasites in Raw Pork



## bdb5853 (May 21, 2010)

Wow, there really is a stigma on raw pork, isn't there??? I had no idea people were so scared of it. I have been feeding it for a year and no troubles at all. 

Am on another board where people are posting links saying that parasites in pork are a real problems (tapeworms and liver flukes) and that vets are saying to STAY AWAY from any under cooked pork for dogs.

Is it really that much of a problem? I know that trich has been eliminated in this country for decades, but are parasites still a problem? 

Do you guys feed raw pork or worry about it?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Are they providing documentation and back up to their claims? If not I'd ask for and if they can't prove it you know it's just fear and hype. I personally have yet to see any documentable proof that parasites in commercially raised pork is a problem. I will continue to feed it on a regular basis.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I feed raw pork quite often, and my husband can now order his pork chop medium rare in the restaurant so you know there is no parasites in pork from the USof A


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## bdb5853 (May 21, 2010)

This is her argument and link to back herself up ...

_Although trich is no longer a problem in modern times, pork can still carry liver flukes and tapeworms which are both zoonotic. That's why humans should never eat undercooked pork. Here's a link explaining some of it, specifically, look for the paragraphs under the blue outlined box:

The Open Door Web Site : Biology : Human parasites II
_

From the info I could find, tapeworms are only a problem in extreme poverty stricken areas where the pigs have access to human feces. (Can't imagine that being a problem with farmed pork!)


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I would ask her to verify cases of this! Every board I belong to feed raw pork right out of the package!


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

In another forum they told me I shouldn't feed raw pork to my pup , 'cause of my area (Honduras in central america) 

I had read in the newspapers many reports of trichinosis in confiscated meat. 

Most of the farmers let the pigs run loose and they eat anything they can find, including garbage.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

This is true in other countries, but not here in the United States, we have have way too many restrictions and regulations.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

If your'e worried you could always freeze it. 
That would kill any parasites, right?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I have fed raw pork to my dogs for 8 years with no problem. Usually it's frozen because I buy several pork roasts at once when on sale. I feed them about once a week so if I buy 3, 2 will go in the freezer. I fed pork tonight straight from the grocery store today.

*@Sapphire-Light:* I would freeze pork for a month if I were you.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Do our average household freezers get cold enough to kill parasites?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

schtuffy said:


> Do our average household freezers get cold enough to kill parasites?


Yes ........


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## ghostrunner (Mar 24, 2010)

Contrary to popular belief, the trichina roundworm has not been eradicated from the US pork supply. Reduced? Yes. But it is still there. Our hospital had 30+ cases of trichinosis (including cerebral trichinosis) in 2009. We have classified it as a re-emerging zoonosis. 

I have no idea as to whether dogs are differentially susceptible as compared to humans. But I didn't want anyone to get the impression that undercooked pork is uniformly safe for human consumption.


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## Huskyluv (Jun 25, 2010)

While I do feed raw pork to my dogs without issues I do make sure that any pork I feed them is frozen for at least 3 days in my freezer before giving it too them...just in case.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ghostrunner said:


> Contrary to popular belief, the trichina roundworm has not been eradicated from the US pork supply. Reduced? Yes. But it is still there. Our hospital had 30+ cases of trichinosis (including cerebral trichinosis) in 2009. We have classified it as a re-emerging zoonosis.


Pork from our normal food supply (grocery stores) is safe. The cases of trich found today come from eating undercooked wild game. There is no trich in the US pork supply.



> I have no idea as to whether dogs are differentially susceptible as compared to humans. But I didn't want anyone to get the impression that undercooked pork is uniformly safe for human consumption.


As long as your pork comes from a grocery store, you are safe. If you by it from an independent farmer, not necessarily so.


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## Finnegan (Jun 18, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Pork from our normal food supply (grocery stores) is safe. The cases of trich found today come from eating undercooked wild game. There is no trich in the US pork supply.


What about tapeworms and liver flukes, though?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I think that is what we are talking about. Commercially raised pork in the US don't harbor these parasites. And if they do, freezing the meat for a few weeks will kill off these bugs.


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## ghostrunner (Mar 24, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Pork from our normal food supply (grocery stores) is safe. The cases of trich found today come from eating undercooked wild game. There is no trich in the US pork supply.


Again, not true. In only 1 case was the source linked to consumption of wild game. In the rest (at our hospital at least) the cases were linked directly to consumption of commercially-purchased pork product. In the majority of those, the pork came from two major grocery chains. In a handful, the pork came from a set of small butcher shops. This was not an outbreak, but just cases over the course of a year at a major teaching hospital.




RawFedDogs said:


> As long as your pork comes from a grocery store, you are safe. If you by it from an independent farmer, not necessarily so.


Again, not true, and not supported by the epidemiological evidence. Of course, of the thousands of people that eat pork, only a small few will get infected, but I caution you against giving advice that consumption of undercooked pork is safe. It is not.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I believe that if you have a compromised immune system then yes you might as a human get sick from something that the average person would not, dogs on an average who have been fed a raw diet have a great immune system and the acidity in the digestive tract would no doubt kill any parasites that the average kibble fed dog couldn't.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

ghostrunner said:


> Contrary to popular belief, the trichina roundworm has not been eradicated from the US pork supply. Reduced? Yes. But it is still there. Our hospital had 30+ cases of trichinosis (including cerebral trichinosis) in 2009. We have classified it as a re-emerging zoonosis.
> 
> I have no idea as to whether dogs are differentially susceptible as compared to humans. But I didn't want anyone to get the impression that undercooked pork is uniformly safe for human consumption.


undercooked pork is not quite the same as eating it pink....

used to be, we had to cook pork until it was a hockey puck. that is not necessary anymore.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ghostrunner said:


> In the rest (at our hospital at least) the cases were linked directly to consumption of commercially-purchased pork product.


Well thats just amazing. 

"_Infection was once very common, but is now rare in the developed world. The incidence of Trichinosis in the U.S. has decreased dramatically in the past century. From 1997 to 2001, an annual average of 12 cases per year were reported in the United States. The number of cases has decreased because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw meat garbage to hogs, increased commercial and home freezing of pork, and the public awareness of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products_"
Trichinosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From 1997 to 2001 there averaged 12 cases/year and here just a few years later YOUR hospital, whichever one that may be, all of a sudden gets 30+ cases in YOUR hospigal alone? Forgive me but I just don't believe you.

And all the cases were linked directly to commercial produced pork? Again I don't believe you.

"_The few cases in the United States are mostly the result of eating undercooked game, bear meat, or home-reared pigs._" 
Trichinosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If what you claim happened, a sudden outbreat of trich, it would definately been made public knowledge all over the media.



> Again, not true, and not supported by the epidemiological evidence. Of course, of the thousands of people that eat pork, only a small few will get infected, but I caution you against giving advice that consumption of undercooked pork is safe. It is not.


Its as safe as eating any other meat. My dogs eat raw pork every week and have for 8 years. I don't spend one minute worry about them and pork.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

carpaccio....tartare...sashimi....

even i eat raw meat LOL


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

magicre said:


> carpaccio....tartare...sashimi....
> 
> even i eat raw meat LOL


Several years ago I used to know this lady on another board who said she ate raw meat all the time. She said her grandmother used to feed her raw hamburger when she was 6 years old and she has been eating raw meat since then. She never cooked meat. I think she was in her 50's if I remember correctly. I think there are a good many people who eat raw meat regularly.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Several years ago I used to know this lady on another board who said she ate raw meat all the time. She said her grandmother used to feed her raw hamburger when she was 6 years old and she has been eating raw meat since then. She never cooked meat. I think she was in her 50's if I remember correctly. I think there are a good many people who eat raw meat regularly.


and who didn't lick the spoon from mom's home made cakes....

raw batter? very common source of germy germs....

it's the immune system and the 'get used to it' that protects us....

live in a bubble? get diseases.....eat germs, live germs....and our bodies build antibodies....


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## ghostrunner (Mar 24, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> "_Infection was once very common, but is now rare in the developed world. The incidence of Trichinosis in the U.S. has decreased dramatically in the past century. From 1997 to 2001, an annual average of 12 cases per year were reported in the United States. The number of cases has decreased because of legislation prohibiting the feeding of raw meat garbage to hogs, increased commercial and home freezing of pork, and the public awareness of the danger of eating raw or undercooked pork products_"
> Trichinosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> From 1997 to 2001 there averaged 12 cases/year and here just a few years later YOUR hospital, whichever one that may be, all of a sudden gets 30+ cases in YOUR hospigal alone? Forgive me but I just don't believe you.


I went back and checked our case reports on this, and I may have misstaed the case. We had a total of 26 cases over a 19 month period, and they cases were described as an "outbreak" by the State public health dept. Nine of the cases were neurotrichinosis, which is categorized differently from typical trich. The influx of Lao, Haitian, and Central American immigrants (whose recipes utilize undercooked pork) has led to a well-documented rise in the number of trich cases. 

See 

Pozio E, Zarlenga DS. Recent advances on the taxonomy, systematics and epidemiology of Trichinella. Int J Parasitol. Oct 2005;35(11-12):1191-204. 

Murrell KD, Pozio E. Trichinellosis: the zoonosis that won't go quietly. Int J Parasitol. Nov 2000;30(12-13):1339-49.

Pozio E. New patterns of Trichinella infection. Vet Parasitol. Jul 12 2001;98(1-3):133-48.

In each of our 26 cases, the patients were from one of those ethnic groups. 

The cases were reported in the MMWR and the local media, from what my infectious disease colleague tells me. 

My point here has nothing to do with a dog's ability to consume raw pork, about which I know nothing at all. My point is that human consumption of raw or undercooked pork (defined as a temp of less than 72C according to my colleague) is not without risk, notwithstanding recent advances in pork safety.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ghostrunner said:


> The influx of Lao, Haitian, and Central American immigrants (whose recipes utilize undercooked pork) has led to a well-documented rise in the number of trich cases.


What's the possibility they had trich when they entered the US? Undercooked or not, all the information I have says the US commercial pork market is basically free of trich. That doesn't include small farmers who only sell to friends and neighbors. It only pertains to the pork that makes its way to the grocery stores.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

RawFedDogs said:


> What's the possibility they had trich when they entered the US? Undercooked or not, all the information I have says the US commercial pork market is basically free of trich. That doesn't include small farmers who only sell to friends and neighbors. It only pertains to the pork that makes its way to the grocery stores.


This was my thought as well...who's to say they didn't come to the US with early cases?


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