Survival of pathogenic enteric viruses on lamb and poultry meat at different conditions, using entrobacteriophage MS2 as a surrogate for enteric viruses

There are increasing concerns about zoonotic transmission of some enteric viruses which are closely related to human-pathogenic strains. Therefore, the use of appropriate processing methods to control or eliminate these threats is essential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival of pathogenic enteric viruses in baked lamb and chicken, using MS2 enterobacteriophage as surrogate. Pieces of leg chump of lamb and chicken breast, approximately 10×10×1.5 cm3 were inoculated with 101, 103 and 105 of MS2 and the incubated samples were then divided to steak and ground meat. To investigate the effect of baking temperature on MS2, inoculated meat wrapped in aluminum foil and baked for 1 hour at 95 Cº in an oven. The MS2 bacteriophage was enumerated using plaque assay technique. Results showed the significant effect (p≤0.05) of baking temperature on all samples. Less reduction of MS2 in ground meat in comparison with steak samples in both lamb and chicken was observed. It is concluded that survival of MS2 in lamb after heat treatment was more than chicken meat.