Environmental Persistence and Disinfection of Lassa Virus

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Shaffer, Marlee ; Fischer, Robert J. ; Gallogly, Shane ; Ginn, Olivia ; Munster, Vincent ; Bibby, Kyle
• Description:
  Lassa fever, caused by Lassa virus (LASV), is endemic to West Africa, where ≈300,000 illnesses and ≈5,000 deaths occur annually. LASV is primarily spread by infected multimammate rats via urine and fomites, highlighting the need to understand the environmental fate of LASV. We evaluated persistence of LASV Josiah and Sauerwald strains on surfaces, in aqueous solutions, and with sodium hypochlorite disinfection. Tested strains were more stable in deionized water (first-order rate constant [k] for Josiah, 0.23 days; for Sauerwald, k = 0.34 days) than primary influent wastewater (Josiah, k = 1.3 days; Sauerwald, k = 1.9 days). Both strains had similar decay rates on high-density polyethylene (Josiah, k = 4.3 days; Sauerwald, k = 2.3 days) and stainless steel (Josiah, k = 5.3 days; Sauerwald, k = 2.7 days). Sodium hypochlorite was highly effective at inactivating both strains. Our findings can inform future risk assessment and management efforts for Lassa fever.
• Subjects:
  Animals Disinfection Lassa Fever Rats Sodium Hypochlorite
• Keywords:
  Disinfection Lassa Virus Persistence Viability Viruses Zoonoses
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 2023; 29(11):2285-2291
• Pubmed ID:
  37877545
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10617325
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Africa, Western
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  11
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:a10cc1233aaa540c326a994ebf36adaa00e72fd81d83ee254a7087a932da0e1b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/135972/cdc_135972_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.39 MB ]