title: Infectivity of H7 LP and HP influenza viruses at different temperatures and pH and persistence of H7 HP virus in poultry meat at refrigeration temperature.
abstract: The aims of this study were to assess the infectivity of highly pathogenic (HP) and low pathogenicity (LP) H7 AI viruses at different temperatures and pH values and to investigate the persistance of HP H7 virus in chicken, turkey and duck meat. The H7 viruses tested remained infectious at +4°C and +20°C for 200 and >50 days, respectively. At pH 5, H7 viruses retained their infectivity for a shorter period of time compared to pH 7. The infectivity of HP H7 was detected >2 months in meat maintained at +4°C and was higher in chicken meat compared to turkey and duck meat. Results of this study show that higher temperatures and lower pH values both reduce virus infectivity and demonstrate that HP H7 virus can remain infectious in meat for extended periods of time.
authors.affiliation: OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza, OIE Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases at the Human-Animal Interface, Italy. msbeato@izsvenezie.it
authors.forename: Maria Serena
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Beato
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancin
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bertoli
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buratin
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Terregino
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Capua
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000821:virology; D004372:Ducks / Q000821:virology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D061353:Food Storage; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008460:Meat / Q000821:virology*; D011200:Poultry / Q000821:virology*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014422:Turkeys / Q000821:virology; D014774:Virulence