Heat Inactivation of Avian Influenza (H7N3) Virus In Experimentally Infected Chicken Meat

Introduction Avian influenza virus (H7N3) cause severe systemic disease in chickens and can be persisted in infected chicken meat that cause public health concern. Influenza viruses are heat liable but parameters for heat inactivation have not been known. Methodology The study investigated the quantitative heat inactivation of H7N3 virus from experimentally infected chicken meat. Twenty (20) sero-negative broiler chickens of 04 weeks age were divided into two group viz A (control) and B artificially infected by giving 0.1ml of 106 embryo infectious dose 50 (EID50) (H7N3) virus through intranasal route. Birds were slaughtered on day 9 post infection and tissues (trachea, kidney, lungs and liver) were collected. Inactivation curves were determined at temperature 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64°C. Results Based on D values, time to inactivate H7N3 virus depends on viral titers and inversely related to temperature. This study investigated confirmed that H7N3 virus was effectively inactivated in chicken meat at 60°C in 4 minutes while at 64°C in 1 minutes. Moreover, protocols per log EID50/g reduction in terms of D values at 60 and 64°C were noted 120 and 30 sec, the coefficient of regression ranged as 0.941 to 0.889.