Another Case Of Trichinosis

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30776, 14 June 1965, Page 1

Another Case Of Trichinosis

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, June 13. Another case of trichinosis has been found in a pig from Dargaville. This was a result of the diagnostic programme being carried out by the Department of Agriculture.

In announcing this finding the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) said it was “satisfying to know at this stage there was no evidence that the disease was widespread.” The pork trade was moving back to normal and there was never any sound reason for consumer suspicion or fear, the statement said. Pork, in common with all other meats, needed proper cooking to eliminate health hazards. The statement said recently two cases of beef measles were diagnosed by the department meat inspectors and confirmed at the Ruakura diagnostic station. Beef measles, the department explained, were cysts in the muscles of animals formed by larvae of human tapeworms, and were common in most parts of the world. The eggs of the worms

were excreted by humans and picked up by animals where sewage sludge was spread on pastures. The larvae entered the blood stream of animals and became fixed in certain muscles. There they remained and calcified, but if the meat was eaten undercooked before the cysts calcified, the consumer would become infected with the adult worms. This would not in itself be a serious health hazard, the statement said, but could be debilitating. The department advised: Cool meat properly and observe good standards of hygiene. Cook all garbage fed to pigs. Wash hands before meals. Do not spread sewage sludge on pastures open to grazing by animals. Get rid of rats.