Inactivation of hepatitis A virus in heat-treated mussels

Hepatitis A is a widespread infectious disease world-wide. In Italy, shellf ish consumption was shown to be a major risk factor for hepatitis A infecti on, especially when these products are eaten raw. or slightly cooked. The a im of the present study was to evaluate Hepatitis ii virus (HAV) resistance in experimentally contaminated mussels treated at different temperatures ( 60, 80 and 100 degrees C) for various times, The presence of HAV was evalua ted by cell culture infect-ion and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain r eaction confirmation. The experiments, carried out on HAV suspension and co ntaminated mussel homogenate both containing about 10(5) 50% tissue culture infectious dose ml(-1), showed that, under our experimental conditions, th e treatments at 60 degrees C for 30 min, 80 degrees C for 10 min and an imm ersion at 100 degrees C for 1 min were not sufficient to inactivate all the viruses; it was necessary to prolong the treatment at 100 degrees C for 2 min to completely inactivate the virus. Thus it is advisable to eat only co oked shellfish, paying particular attention to the times and temperatures u sed in the cooking process, since evidence suggests that the shellfish body may protect the virus from the heat effect.