Performance evaluation of methods for detecting enteric viruses in meat products

Meat products represent important vehicles for foodborne viral transmission, yet standardized detection methodologies for these complex matrices remain limited. This study systematically compared three viral recovery methods across nine meat products representing chicken, pork, and processed deli meat matrices: polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) precipitation, glycine buffer-chloroform (GBC) phase separation, and β-mercaptoethanol (B-M) chaotropic lysis. Using Murine Norovirus 1 (MNV-1) and Murine Hepatitis Virus 3 (MHV-3) as process controls, recovery efficiency was assessed by RT-qPCR. The B-M method demonstrated the most consistent performance, successfully detecting MNV-1 across all tested matrices and significantly outperforming PEG and GBC for MNV-1 in chicken and pork. Applying the B-M method to 25 commercial retail products revealed the genetic material of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in four samples and Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) in one sample, exclusively within pork products. These findings provide critical comparative performance data for method selection in viral surveillance of meat and document the occurrence of HEV and PCV-2 genetic material in commercial pork products from Santa Catarina, Brazil, highlighting a significant food and agricultural biosafety concern in this major meat-producing and exporting state.