Which disease is associated with a nematode infection from undercooked pork and involves rats spreading contamination via infested droppings in hog feed?

Which disease is associated with a nematode infection from undercooked pork and involves rats spreading contamination via infested droppings in hog feed?

• A. Trichinosis
• B. Salmonella food poisoning
• C. Leptospirosis
• D. Meningitis

Answer: (A)

Trichinosis is a nematode infection acquired when people or animals eat undercooked pork containing cysts of Trichinella spiralis. In pigs and other animals, the parasite’s life cycle begins in the intestine after ingestion, and larvae migrate to and encyst in muscle tissue. Rats can carry the parasite and spread it through their droppings in hog feed, introducing larvae into the feed chain and sustaining transmission to pigs. This combination—a nematode from undercooked pork with rat-mediated contamination of hog feed—fits trichinosis best. Salmonella food poisoning is caused by a bacterium, not a nematode, and doesn’t involve a pork-associated larval infection. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread mainly via urine and environmental exposure, not through undercooked pork or hog-feed contamination by rodents. Meningitis refers to inflammation of the brain coverings from various causes, not a pork-derived nematode infection.

Trichinosis is a nematode infection acquired when people or animals eat undercooked pork containing cysts of Trichinella spiralis. In pigs and other animals, the parasite’s life cycle begins in the intestine after ingestion, and larvae migrate to and encyst in muscle tissue. Rats can carry the parasite and spread it through their droppings in hog feed, introducing larvae into the feed chain and sustaining transmission to pigs. This combination—a nematode from undercooked pork with rat-mediated contamination of hog feed—fits trichinosis best.

Salmonella food poisoning is caused by a bacterium, not a nematode, and doesn’t involve a pork-associated larval infection. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread mainly via urine and environmental exposure, not through undercooked pork or hog-feed contamination by rodents. Meningitis refers to inflammation of the brain coverings from various causes, not a pork-derived nematode infection.