DETECTION OF VIRAL NUCLEIC-ACID IN ARTIFI CIALLY CONTAMINATED SAUSAGEEMULSIONS BY THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Foods of animal origin can be contaminated with human pathogenic virus es 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 ce ll culture methods. This work describes the successful detection of vi ral RNA in an experimentally contaminated food of animal origin (sausa ge emulsion) with the polymerase chain reaction after reverse transcri ption of the viral RNA (RT-PCR). The bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVD- virus) served as a model virus.