DETECTION OF VIRAL NUCLEIC-ACID IN ARTIFICIALLY CONTAMINATED SAUSAGE EMULSIONS BY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Foods of animal origin can be contaminated with human pathogenic viruses from faeces by polluted water as well as during handling. Usually, the virus load is low (up to 10 infections virus particles per gram), and often difficult or even impossible to detect using conventional cell culture methods. This work describes the successful detection of viral RNA in an experimentally contaminated food of animal origin (sausage emulsion) with the polymerase chain reaction after reverse transcription of the viral RNA (RT-PCR). The bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVD-virus) served as a model virus.