[Methods for the detection of viral contamination in food of animal origin]

Contamination of foods of animal origin with pathogenic human viruses may occur during handling or through polluted water. Most of these viruses are pathogens originating from the human gastrointestinal tract. They can be transmitted by the consumption of contaminated food and often cause disease. A survey is given of DNA- and RNA-viruses that may occur as contaminants of foods. In addition, the classical methods for detecting viral contaminations in foods are summarized. They are based on the effects after virus inoculation of cell cultures. Besides the fact that these methods are not economic and time consuming, they do not permit detection of some of the most important foodborne gastroenteritis viruses. The possibility of replacing these methods by detecting the viral genomes using hybridization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is discussed.