TRICHINOSIS: REPORT OF AN EPIDEMIC*

TRICHINOSIS is an acute disease usually occurring in man following the ingestion of pork products infested with the encysted larvae of the Nematode, Trichinella spiralis. The illness is characterized by fever, muscular pains, swollen eyelids, and a variable course, depending on the degree of infestation. The adult forms of the parasite (male and female) develop in the intestinal tract where the female deposits her eggs after penetrating the mucosa. In a few days the young trichina enter the intestinal lymphatics and are then transported by the circulatory system to all parts of the body. Usually, the initial symptoms of the disease are gastrointestinal and occur during the first week after ingestion of trichinous meat. Following this there is a period of toxicity corresponding with the migration of the larvae throughout the body. Finally, there is a period of larval encystment in muscle tissue during which time the patient either recovers from the disease or continues on to cachexia and death. REPORT OF THE EPIDEMIC The present report is concerned primarily with 83 German prisoners of war who were hospitalized for trichinosis at an A.A.F. Regional Station Hospital. Their ages varied from 18 to 41 years with an average age for the group of 25.5 years. Eighty-two patients were admitted between Dec