To establish a method for the determination of amantadine, rimantadine, memantine, oseltamivir, moroxydine and aciclovir in animal derived food by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS).Methods The residues of antiviral drugs in the samples were extracted with buffer (ammonium acetate pH=4.8). After being cleaned up with QuEChERS, the residues were detected by HPLC-MS/MS under multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) via positive ionisation mode. Results The limit of detection for amantadine, rimantadine and memantine was 0.1 μg/kg, 0.3 μg/kg for oseltamivir and 0.5 μg/kg for moroxydine and aciclovir. 6 antiviral drugs showed a good linearity over the range of 0.5-100 μg/kg, with r>0.992. The average recoveries at 3 spiked levels were above 50%, while the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were between 0.8%-5.7% (n=6).Conclusion The method was highly sensitive, accurate and rapid and was suitable for the detection of antiviral drugs in animal derived food.