Thermal inactivation of tickborne encephalitis virus in milk.

Tickborne encephalitis, a zoonotic virus infection, is transmitted to humans usually by the bite of an infected tick. It may also be acquired by ingesting infected dairy products. In this study, the infectivity of tickborne encephalitis virus, suspended in milk and other media, remained unchanged during a period of five days of storage at 8 °C. After heat treatments in the range of 60 to 80 °C, a decrease of approximately 4 or 4.5 log units in the virus titre was observed. Kinetic parameters for the inactivation were calculated, and the line of equal effects showing a 3-log inactivation was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]