[Trichinella spiralis as a teacher or the parasite-host relationship between a threadworm and an institute]

The present paper provides a review of activities of the National Institute of Public Health in the field of studies on Trichinella spiralis in man and animals. The development of a system of (immune) surveillance of infections due to Trichinella in pigs has been central since the early sixties. Both the fluorescent antibody technique introduced in 1967 and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) published in 1974 are examples of these efforts. The method was standardised and, specifically, the ELISA method was mechanized. Comparative studies were done as part of the activities of the EEC working party concerned with trichinosis. The two methods were officially accepted by the EEC. Studies in the slaughter-house as well as in the piggeries (so-called 'in process control') are possible on the basis of the ELISA technique, in which method interest is also being taken in the United States today. Conceivably, industry in Europe will also become interested in the principles of good manufacturing practice, in which certification of slaughtered animals, based on negative results of ELISA studies (without any further inspection in the slaughter-house) will be possible in theory. In addition to the object directly aimed at, i.e. improvement of the method of detection in pigs, designed to prevent human trichinosis, studies on the parasite Trichinella spiralis centered, among other things, on closer examination of the immune response and effector mechanisms in regard to this nematode infection, in which particularly studies on the role of so-called intestinal mast cells produced interesting new views on the subject of (immunological) regulation.