Pig/Hog hunters spreading brain worms

[Double Naught Spy]

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/215589-overview

"Cysticercosis (ie, tapeworm infection) is an increasingly common medical problem in the United States, especially in the Southwest and other areas where large populations migrated from endemic areas and among populations that often travel to these areas.

United States
Approximately 1,000 new cases of cysticercosis are reported annually in the United States.

You missed citing part of the information on the new cases for the United States...

Approximately 1,000 new cases of cysticercosis are reported annually in the United States. Most occur among Latin American immigrants in locations such as California (particularly Los Angeles), Phoenix, and Albuquerque. Less frequently, cysticercosis is observed in immigrants from other areas, including Asia and Africa. A small number of cases of cysticercosis develop in people born in the United States who have traveled to areas in which the infection is endemic. These travelers are often the children of immigrants. Locally acquired infection is rare and is associated with contact with a tapeworm carrier. All tapeworm carriers acquire infection from areas of endemic disease.

In a mortality study using data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1990 to 2002; 62% of patients with cysticercosis had emigrated from Mexico.

In other words, you are more likely to get "brain worms" from a human tapeworm carrier in the US than you are from pigs. The vast majority of carrier and infectees are immigrants from south of the US. The vast majority of new cases reported in the US are not actually originating in the US. Here is the study for those findings, FYI... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2725874/

The Texasporthunter information is nice and substantiates that indeed hogs are walking biohazards (like so many other animals), but the Aggie study it cited failed to note a single case of Taenia solium which leads me to question the claim of wild pork being "highly infected" with it.

In fact, I haven't found any articles documenting T. solium in US feral hogs. I can find articles documenting things like the amount of feral hogs in CA with Giardia (7.6%), but that isn't the issue at hand. http://www.banffpork.ca/proc/2000pdf/Chap13-Olson.pdf

I see where it is common in the Mexican tropics, North Korea, and Africa but that doesn't pertain very well with the United States. http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/applan/article/S0168-1591(04)00076-0/abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2526307/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304401708001453

So if wild pork is highly infected and Zoog's warnings that hunters are spreading "brain worns" is correct, then where are the data to show that US feral hogs are highly infected? Where are the data that show lots of US folks getting "brain worms" from feral hogs? The absence of data on the hogs indicates that US feral hogs are not highly infected despite studies on porcine zoonotic disease and parasites in the US. Studies on people with cysticercosis indicate very few cases actually originating in the US and those can be traced to people in contact with carriers who are from other locations such as Latin America or Asia.

So I just don't see the validity of the claim that hog hunters are creating some sort of health risk with "brain worms." Zoogster stated that...

But wild pork in the US is another major source.

but then never backed up the claim with data showing that wild pork in the US actually is a major source. If US wild pork (aka feral hogs) is a known major source, then there should be plenty of data substantiating the claim. If the data materialize, then sure, this is a subject needing to be addressed.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

FYI, if we are going to worry about Taenia solium in its intermediate stage (stage where carried by hogs), it is also important to note that it can also be found in dogs, cats, sheep, deer, camels, marine mammals, bears, non-human primates, and humans. http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/taenia.pdf

 

[Cosmoline]

At Saturday's farmer market I opted to stare the death worm in the face. A local farmer was selling farm fresh pork belly--aka mother of bacon. I'll let you know if I turn into a worm zombie.

 

[Cob]

dogs, cats, sheep, deer, camels, marine mammals, bears, non-human primates, and humans

outside of deer, i think i'll pass on the most of the rest of the items on the menu. ( might try a bear or maybe even sheep if meat get's scarce)

 

[pikid89]

thats why i shoot hogs in the head...blows the worms out the other side