Trichinellosis / Trichinosis (Trichinella spp.) 1990 Case Definition

NOTE: A surveillance case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. Surveillance case definitions enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions. Surveillance case definitions are not intended to be used by healthcare providers for making a clinical diagnosis or determining how to meet an individual patient’s health needs.

Clinical Description

A disease caused by ingestion of larvae of Trichinella spiralis that has variable clinical manifestations. Common signs and symptoms among symptomatic persons include eosinophilia, fever, myalgia, and periorbital edema.

Laboratory Criteria For Diagnosis

Demonstration of larvae of cysts of T. spiralis on muscle biopsy, OR
Positive serology for T. spiralis

Case Classification

Confirmed

A clinically compatible illness that is laboratory confirmed

Comments

In an outbreak setting, at least one case must be laboratory confirmed. Associated cases should be reported as confirmed if the patient shared an epidemiologically implicated meal or ate an epidemiologically implicated meat product and has either a positive serology for trichinosis or a clinically compatible illness.

Related Case Definition(s)

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Last Reviewed: April 16, 2021

Source: Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology