The viability of Trichinella spiralis larvae in frozen pork and wild boar meat revealed by the experimental infection of laboratory mice

The aim of the research was to verify the viability of Trichinella spiralis larvae in pig and wild boar meat frozen at -18 °C from 268 days to 1021 days.

There were three groups of laboratory inbred Balb/C mice and Bagg/ Albino/ strain C, each group received one sample consisting of 20 g meat infected with T. spiralis larvae, according to the protocol, and an uninfected control group. The experiments were ended after 80 days, by euthanizing the mice and taking samples of muscle tissue, which were processed for histopathology. The results revealed the presence of Trichinella cysts in all experimental groups, confirming the extraordinary durability and viability of Trichinella larvae in meat frozen at -18 °C for many months. It was confirmed that the larvae detected in muscle tissues of mice were Trichinella spiralis.