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A nematode genus in the aphasmid group that causes trichinosis in humans and carnivores. [Mod. L. fr. trichina + dim. suffix ella]

- T. pseudospiralis. nematode species with normal life cycle in small predators; humans are an accidental host.

- T. spiralis the pork or trichina worm, a species of parasites that cause trichinosis, found in most regions of the world but more frequently in the Northern Hemisphere; transmission occurs as a result of ingesting raw or inadequately cooked meat (especially pork) that contains encysted larvae which develop into adults that survive in the jejunum and ileum for approximately 6 weeks; the female worm is viviparous, and bears approximately 1500 embryonic larvae that are laid deep in the mucosa so that they are picked up in the submucosal capillaries and are transported via the liver to the heart, lungs, and systemic circulation; eventually the larvae break out of the body capillaries, penetrate a muscle fiber, coil, and encyst, thereby inducing the strong sensitization, pain, fever, edema, and eosinophilic reaction characteristic of trichinosis.

trich·i·nel·la .trik-ə-'nel-ə n

1) cap a genus (coextensive with the family Trichinellidae of the order Enoplida) of nematode worms comprising the trichinae and being often isolated in a distinct superfamily

2) pl -lae -lē TRICHINA

a genus of minute parasitic nematode worms. The adults of T. spiralis live in the human small intestine, where the females release large numbers of larvae. These bore through the intestinal wall and can cause disease (see trichinosis). The parasite can also develop in pigs and rats.