The resistance in the environment of viruses that cause bird flu basically depends on the temperature and the pH of the medium in which it is found. In fact, avian influenza viruses can survive in the tissues and faeces of infected animals for long periods, especially at low temperatures (they can resist for about a month at 4 ° C). Even freezing is not effective in destroying the pathogen possibly present in food poultry products (specifying that meat from infected animals is never marketed in Italy).
On the contrary, the virus is sensitive to the action of heat and is completely destroyed during cooking (at least 70 ° C; at 100 ° C it survives for less than 2 minutes). Also the exposure to ultraviolet rays and to strongly acid pH are inactivating the avian influenza virus (10). The same effect is produced by the action of common disinfectants (eg 70% ethanol and 0.01% sodium hypochlorite) and organic solvents (ether, chloroform and acetone).
