Until this fall, no trichins have been found in bear meat in Sweden since 2016. However, when analyzing meat from this year’s hunt, trichin larvae were found in bear meat from one of the bears killed in Berg municipality. The meat contained approximately 37 Trichinella larvae per gram of meat. The animal was a young female bear that was killed during this year’s licensed bear hunt in the county. According to the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, this is the first time that trichinosis has been found in bear meat in this area.
– This shows how important it is to test meat from wild boar and bear for trichinosis, even if we don’t find that many positive cases per year, says Eva Osterman Lind, veterinarian at SVA’s parasite laboratory.
Trichinella larvae from the bear have been sent to the European Reference Laboratory in Rome. There, the larvae will be species determined, but so far Trichinella nativa is the only species found in bears in Sweden. A species that can survive many years in freezing temperatures.
The article is updated.