Presence of pathogenic enteric viruses in illegally imported meat and meat products to EU by international air travelers

One hundred twenty two meat samples confiscated from passengers on flights from non-European countries at the International Airport of Bilbao (Spain) were tested for the presence of the main foodborne viral pathogens (human noroviruses genogroups I and II, hepatitis A and E viruses) during 2012 and 2013. A sample process control virus, murine norovirus, was used to evaluate the correct performance of the method. Overall, 67 samples were positive for at least one enteric viruses, 65 being positive for hepatitis E virus (53.3%), 3 for human norovirus genogroup I (2.5%) and 1 for human norovirus genogroup II (0.8%), whereas hepatitis A virus was not detected in any sample. The type of positive meat samples was diverse, but mainly was pork meat products (64.2%). The geographical origin of the positive samples was wide and diverse; samples from 15 out 19 countries tested were positive for at least one virus. However, the estimated virus load was low, ranging from 55 to 9.0 × 104 PDU per gram of product. The results obtained showed the potential introduction of viral agents in travelers' luggage, which constitute a neglected route of introduction and transmission.