Infectivity of Trichinella spp. recovered from decaying mouse and fox muscle tissue

The tolerance to degradation processes in meat of nine Trichinella genotypes was studied in mouse and fox tissue, respectively. Minced muscle tissue with Trichinella larvae of different age was stored at room temperature at 100% relative humidity. During storage weekly sub samples of the minced meat were digested and released larvae were inoculated in mice to evaluate the Reproductive Capacity Index (RCI). The RCI decreased with the length of storage, but the larvae from older infections appeared better adapted to tolerate the degradation processes. The African species T. nelsoni had a relative higher tolerance to elevated temperature during storage and the unencysted species T. pseudospiralis was the most vulnerable genotype.