First case of possibly fatal disease reported

A CASE of a potentially fatal disease caused by eating undercooked meat infected with the larvae of a worm was reported in Ireland for the first time last month.

Previously found only in foxes, trichinellosis was diagnosed in a Polish man who presented to A&E at a Dublin Hospital after returning from a trip home to Poland. He had been living in Ireland for the past year, but returned to north-west Poland for a holiday in April 2007.

According to a report in Eurosurveillance — an online journal monitoring communicable diseases — the man had “purchased and consumed lightly-smoked pork sausages” during his visit home. He first consumed some of the sausages at the beginning of May and returned to Ireland a week later.

“By the end of May he began to feel unwell and noticed that his eyes had begun to swell and he developed conjunctivitis,” the authors of the Eurosurveillance report said.

“He attended an ophthalmologist who diagnosed a viral conjunctivitis. The following day he developed a high-grade fever, diarrhoea and pains in his legs. He also complained of a dry cough.”

The man’s GP treated him with eye drops and an antibiotic for three days to no avail. He was then referred to hospital.

The patient told doctors that Polish radio had reported an outbreak of trichinellosis in the region of Poland that he had visited.

As a result of this, and based on his symptoms and results of blood tests, a presumptive diagnosis of trichinellosis was made. The patient’s Polish fiancée, who had travelled to Poland with him and consumed some of the sausages, was also ill. The serology results for both patients were obtained by the end of June and confirmed trichinella.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) was informed, as was the Department of Public Health. The HPSC confirmed the outbreak of trichinellosis in north-west Poland with the Polish authorities.