Optimisation and evaluation of an automated system for extraction of viral RNA from oysters.

The NucliSENS MiniMAG (Minimag) system from bioMérieux is widely used for extraction of viral RNA from oysters and is included as informative material in the ISO method for quantification of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and norovirus genogroups I and II (GI and GII) in food (ISO 15216-1:2017). However, the system is no longer on sale within the EU and alternative methods are therefore needed. We optimised and evaluated an automated benchtop system for extraction of viral RNA from oysters artificially contaminated with HAV, norovirus GI, norovirus GII and mengovirus, using the same reagents and a similar protocol as with the Minimag method.