ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – If walrus is in your dinner plans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you make sure it’s well done.
The federal health agency warned of the effects of undercooked game meat after two outbreaks of trichinosis over the last year in western Alaska. The outbreaks sickened 10 people and all have fully recovered.
It was the first multiple-case outbreaks of trichinosis associated with walrus, which can only be hunted by Alaska Natives for subsistence or handicraft purposes, since 1992.
The CDC in its weekly morbidity and mortality report urged health care givers to consider consumption of wild game when evaluating suspected trichinosis cases. The agency also said public health messages should communicate ways to evaluate the risk of traditional methods of preparing and storing food.
“Some of these methods can be inconsistent with public health best practices,” the agency said.