Why you should care about cooking meat

Cryptosporidium parvum.

I just concluded my second semester of junior year at college. During this previous semester I took a Clinical Parasitology class as part of my Biology fulfillment. First off, I would have never imagined that I would be so interested in learning about anything like amoebas and tapeworms because this subject can definitely make someone nauseous. As the semester went on and we moved on from amoebas (which I think are really cool and hope to educate you guys on them), we began to learn about serious parasites like C. parvum.
So what is C. parvum?
A parasite that occurs worldwide that infects 25-35% of the world's population. This means 1 in 4 people have been infected and infectious rates are higher in developing countries where substandard sanitation is present.
Why should you care?
Cattle are important reservoirs of C. parvum. So that means humans can become infected from eating cattle meat that has infective C. parvum. It is highly prevalent in dairy cattle. The parasite is found in water from lakes and pools and normal levels of chlorine do not kill them.
Symptoms can include severe diarrhea, cramps, flatulence and malaise. Immunocompromised people like AIDS patients can experience more severe symptoms.
THE TAKEAWAY
Although the prevalence of C. parvum in the United States is about 20% to 30%, it can be avoidable by simply cooking cattle meat at proper temperatures. Additionally, although several drugs were tried for treatment, there is no effective treatment that exists today. I'm not trying to lecture anyone on what they should do about the food they eat but just spreading awareness on precautions.
Leave a comment on what you think! Should I do more of these Parasitology types of posts?