The objectives of the projects are closely related to the research questions of the FSVO Research Call 2017 on HEV, partly answering the bullet points 1 to 3:
· Development and validation of methods for assessing HEV infectivity in food.
· Which factors or technologies lead to a reduction in the HEV burden in food? Where, how and to
what extent can a reduction be achieved?
· Determination of HEV tenacity in the animal, in carcasses, in the environment and in food.
This includes the following specific aims:
1. Method optimization for HEV infectivity determination
The cell culture method should be optimized to enable a broader range of virus titration, which can thereafter be used in more detailed HEV inactivation studies.
2. Assessing the HEV stability after treatment at different pH values and salt concentrations
Data on stability of HEV at different pH values and salt concentrations should be generated, which should reflect the conditions in meat products.
3. Development of an extended HEV inactivation model including heat, pH and salt treatment
The generated data and other available data will be used for calculation of inactivation models, which will enable the prediction of HEV infectivity decrease by treatment with heat, pH or salt for different time intervals.
4. Assessing the HEV stability after drying on different surfaces
Data on stability of HEV on different surfaces due to drying should be generated, which should reflect the conditions in food-producing environments.
5. Assessing the HEV stability in a selected meat product
The decrease of HEV infectivity during production of a specific meat product typical for Switzerland will be exemplarily investigated in order to directly determine the risk of HEV transmission and to compare this with the predictions made by the inactivation models.
The generated data and inactivation models can later be used to identify specific risk products and to develop strategies for HEV inactivation during food production, processing or preparation.
