Comparison of two commercial ELISA kits and magnetic stirrer method for detection of Trichinella spp. in a pig slaughterhouse

ELISA represents a useful rapid method to detect the presence of specific antibodies on serum, plasma or meat juice collected at slaughter, however, false- and positive-results may occur depending on the sensitivity and specificity of the test. In this study we compare two commercial ELISA kits for the detection of specific antibodies against Trichinella spp. with respect to the gold standard method (artificial digestion) in a pig slaughterhouse. A total of 709 Iberian pigs belonging to 79 free-range herds were randomly selected and sampled (five to ten animals/herd) (Win Episcope 2.0; 95% confidence level, 8% accepted error)