Inactivation and UV Disinfection of Murine Norovirus with TiO2 under Various Environmental Conditions
ABSTRACT We studied inactivation and UV disinfection of murine norovirus (MNV) as a surrogate for human norovirus. We investigated the effects of different surface characteristics, temperatures, and NaCl concentrations on MNV survival using both a plaque assay and a real-time TaqMan reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay. MNV survived more than 40 days on diaper material, on gauze, and in a stool suspension. Compared to inactivation at lower temperatures (−20 and 4°C), inactivation of MNV was greater at higher temperatures (18 and 30°C). On the surface of both gauze and diaper material, there was a <2-log10 reduction in the amount of infectious MNV in 40 days after incubation at both −20 and 4°C, compared to a >5-log10 reduction after incubation at 30°C in 24 days. MNV survived better in a stool suspension than on the surface of gauze or diaper material. A higher salt concentration increased the rate of inactivation of MNV. In 72 h, <0.3-, 1.5-, and 2.5-log10 reductions in the amount of infectious MNV occurred in distilled water and 0.5 and 1 M NaCl, respectively. We observed only minor reductions in the numbers of viral RNA copies as quantified by real-time TaqMan RT-PCR regardless of the temperature, the salt concentration, or the suspending medium. We also evaluated UV disinfection of infectious MNV with and without TiO2. The amount of MNV was significantly reduced by 254-nm UV with and without TiO2. When 25 mJ/cm2 UV was used, 3.3- and 3.6-log10 reductions in the amounts of infectious MNV occurred with and without TiO2, respectively. Our results demonstrate that MNV can persist in various environmental conditions and can be efficiently controlled by UV disinfection.