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Survival of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus in Goat Cheese and Milk

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Abstract

Survival of tick-borne encephalitis virus was studied from pasteurized and unpasteurized goat milk and from salted/unsalted and spiced/unspiced cheese made from goat milk inoculated with low and high litres of infective virus. Both soft (63 °C, 30 min) and fast (72 °C, 15 s) pasteurization conditions destroyed viable virus particles. A small amount of infective virus could be detected only for 5‒10 days from milk, and from unsalted cheese. From milk inoculated with a higher amount of virus, infectious viral particles were detectable for 20‒25 days and from unsalted cheese samples for 10‒15 days, independently of the use of spices. Pasteurization and salt treatment made goat milk and cheese safely consumable. These two methods must be used when making any human food from goat milk to avoid milk-borne human TBEV infections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biology Department, National Food Chain Safety Office, Veterinary Diagnostic Institute, Tábornok u 2, Budapest, 1143, Hungary

    Zsuzsanna Rónai

  2. Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 18, Budapest, 1581, Hungary

    László Egyed

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  1. Zsuzsanna Rónai
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  2. László Egyed
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Correspondence to László Egyed.

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Rónai, Z., Egyed, L. Survival of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus in Goat Cheese and Milk. Food Environ Virol 12, 264–268 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-020-09427-z

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