Trichinosis, a disease caused by the parasitic intestinal roundworm Trichinella spiralis (trichinae), is contracted by warm-blooded mammals through ingestion of raw or undercooked meat infected by trichinae. Pork and bear meat are primary sources of human infection; beaver, opossums, rats, walruses and whales can also carry the parasite. Infected animals remain asymptomatic; however, symptoms in humans--which can begin as soon as five or a late as 45 days after exposure--can range from asymptomatic to death. Symptoms include fluid retention in the upper eyelids, diarrhea, physical weakness, excessive thirst and sweating, chills, fever, muscle pain, anorexia, breathing difficulties, and perhaps even kidney and heart damage. Severity depends upon the number of parasites ingested. Although trichinosis is found in some grain-fed pigs, swine fed on garbage containing infected meat scraps is the primary source of human trichinosis. In 1954, a campaign to cook garbage before feeding it to swine was implemented in...