Preconditioning of Trichinella spiralis nativa larvae in musculature to low temperatures.

Preconditioning of a Trichinella spiralis nativa isolate in ferret and fox musculature was carried out by freezing at -15 degrees C from 0 to 322 days prior to low temperature refrigeration at -32 degrees C. A limited number of preconditioned samples of infected fox musculature was also refrigerated at -45 degrees C. Preconditioned larvae were appreciably more resistant than those subjected to the low temperatures directly. Under the conditions of this investigation, the longer the period of preconditioning, the greater the resistance, (i.e., survival of larvae) observed. The larvae in fox musculature were slightly more resistant than those in ferret musculature. Limited infectivity trials indicated that pre-conditioned larvae surviving low temperature refrigeration of -32 degrees C -45 degrees C retained their infectivity for at least 44 and 37 days, respectively.