Effect of Thermal Processing on the Survival of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in Ground Meat

Foot-and-mouth disease virus was examined for its stability during cooking in tissues from infected cattle. The 01 (CANEFA 2) serotype of foot-and-mouth disease virus survived in lymph node tissues after heating for 2 hr at 69°C, for 1 hr but not for 2 hr at 82°C, and for 15 min but not for 0.5 hr at 90°C. Incorporation of 1% NaCl into suspensions of infected lymph nodes enhanced viral survival after heating for 0.5 hr but not for 1 hr at 90°C. The virus did not survive in either ground beef or meatballs contaminated with infected lymph node tissue, when processed to internal temperatures of 93.3, 96.1 or 98.8°C using commercial thermal processing procedures. Accurate temperature measurements were achieved with a temperature sensitive indicator disc developed in this study.