Two thousand and five hundred pigs coming from one fattening pig farm were examined for the presence of Trichinella spiralis. Infestation was stated in 28 animals. The application of a digestive method allowed to find T. spiralis larvae in other 64 pigs. A total 92 pigs (3.68 per cent) proved to be infected. Of 21 rats originated from the same farm 13 animals were infested with T. spiralis (61.9 per cent) using a compressive method and 15 individuals (71.43 per cent) by a digestive one. In some rats the appearance of larvae and sheets around them suggested multiple infestation — superinvasions. Inappropiate zoohygienic conditions and a high population of rats infested in a very high percentage with T. spiralis influenced favourably the infestation of pigs with the mentioned parasite.
The main purpose of this article was to analyse the effectiveness of two methods: trichinoscopy and digestion method for control of animal trichinellosis. It was established that the using of magnetic stirrer improved the digestion of meat and shortened the digestion to 90-100 minutes. It is worthy of notice that the digestion method is three to four times more sensitive than the traditional trichinoscopy. In the years 1999-2004 Trichinella larvae were found in pork meat 6 times rarely comparing with the years 1990-1994. The introduction of digestion method resulted directly in the reduction (4 times) of the Trichinella infection in humans in the years 2000-2004 comparing with the years 1990-1994. The ELISA test appeared to be also very useful for epidemiological studies on Trichinella infection in animals and humans.