Ebola Virus Stability Under Hospital and Environmental Conditions

Danielle Westhoff Smith; Lindsay Hill-Batorski; Alhaji N'jai; Amie J Eisfeld; Gabriele Neumann; Peter Halfmann; Yoshihiro Kawaoka

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiw167

Ebola Virus Stability Under Hospital and Environmental Conditions

J Infect Dis. 2016 Oct 15;214(suppl 3):S142-S144. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw167. Epub 2016 Jun 7.

Authors

Danielle Westhoff Smith¹, Lindsay Hill-Batorski¹, Alhaji N'jai², Amie J Eisfeld¹, Gabriele Neumann¹, Peter Halfmann¹, Yoshihiro Kawaoka³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
² Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Biological Sciences, Fourah Bay College College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown.
³ Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 27279525
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiw167

Abstract

The West African outbreak of Ebola virus (EBOV) is largely contained, but sporadic new cases continue to emerge. To assess the potential contribution of fomites to human infections with EBOV, we tested EBOV stability in human blood spotted onto Sierra Leonean banknotes and in syringe needles under hospital and environmental conditions. Under some of these conditions, EBOV remained infectious for >30 days, indicating that EBOV-contaminated items may pose a serious risk to humans.

Keywords: Ebola virus; banknotes; virus stability.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Disease Outbreaks*
Ebolavirus / physiology*
Environment
Environmental Microbiology
Fomites / virology*
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology*
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / virology
Hospitals
Humans
Linear Models
Microbial Viability