Data on the survival of filoviruses on substrates and in liquid media presented in this study should be set within the context of the infectivity of the viruses. It has been reported that the infectious dose of filoviruses for mice and nonhuman primates is low (e.g. 400 PFU, Johnson et al. 1995; 1 PFU, Bray et al. 1999). Studies with the wild-type ZEBOV and MARV strains used in these survival studies in a susceptible mouse model demonstrated 100% mortality with <10 TCID50 of either virus by the aerosol or intraperitoneal challenge route (M.S. Lever, personal communication). These low infectious dose reports suggest that if the initial viral titre is high, infectious quantities of viable virus could be recovered from samples stored at +4°C for periods of up to 46 days in liquid media, and from samples dried onto glass at both 26 and 50 days. This demonstrates the need for good control measures when handling and disposing of clinical samples that may be contaminated with filoviruses.
114 posted on 10/07/2014 9:21:08 AM PDT by PA Engineer
(Liberate America from the Occupation Media.)