Detection and genome characterization of bovine polyomaviruses in beef muscle and ground beef samples from Germany

Polyomaviruses are small, non-enveloped, circular double-stranded DNA viruses. It was hypothesized that the consumption of beef meat containing polyomaviruses could contribute to the development of cancer in humans. In order to assess the distribution of the BPyV genome in meat from Germany, 101 beef muscle samples and 10 ground beef samples were analyzed here. It can be concluded that BPyV genomes can be frequently detected in ground beef samples, although higher sample numbers should be investigated in future to confirm this finding.

The study was published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology.

Detection and genome characterization of bovine polyomaviruses in beef muscle and ground beef samples from Germany
Donina Gräfe, Bernhard Ehlers, Dietrich Mäde, Lüppo Ellerbroek, Tassilo Seidler, Reimar Johne

International Journal of Food Microbiology,
241 (2017) 168-172
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2016.10.024
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016816051630561X