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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2007, p. 5760-5766, Vol. 73, No. 18
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00110-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of UVC Light Sensitivity of Vaccinia Virus{triangledown}

James J. McDevitt,1 Ka Man Lai,1,{dagger} Stephen N. Rudnick,1 E. Andres Houseman,1 Melvin W. First,1 and Donald K. Milton1,2*

Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,1 University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 018542

Received 16 January 2007/ Accepted 12 July 2007

Interest in airborne smallpox transmission has been renewed because of concerns regarding the potential use of smallpox virus as a biothreat agent. Air disinfection via upper-room 254-nm germicidal UV (UVC) light in public buildings may reduce the impact of primary agent releases, prevent secondary airborne transmission, and be effective prior to the time when public health authorities are aware of a smallpox outbreak. We characterized the susceptibility of vaccinia virus aerosols, as a surrogate for smallpox, to UVC light by using a benchtop, one-pass aerosol chamber. We evaluated virus susceptibility to UVC doses ranging from 0.1 to 3.2 J/m2, three relative humidity (RH) levels (20%, 60%, and 80%), and suspensions of virus in either water or synthetic respiratory fluid. Dose-response plots show that vaccinia virus susceptibility increased with decreasing RH. These plots also show a significant nonlinear component and a poor fit when using a first-order decay model but show a reasonable fit when we assume that virus susceptibility follows a log-normal distribution. The overall effects of RH (P < 0.0001) and the suspending medium (P = 0.014) were statistically significant. When controlling for the suspending medium, the RH remained a significant factor (P < 0.0001) and the effect of the suspending medium was significant overall (P < 0.0001) after controlling for RH. Virus susceptibility did not appear to be a function of virus particle size. This work provides an essential scientific basis for the design of effective upper-room UVC installations for the prevention of airborne infection transmission of smallpox virus by characterizing the susceptibility of an important orthopoxvirus to UVC exposure.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Work Environment, School of Health and Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Ave., Lowell, MA 01854. Phone: (978) 934-4850. Fax: (978) 452-5711. E-mail: Donald_Milton{at}uml.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 July 2007.

{dagger} Present address: University College London, London, United Kingdom.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2007, p. 5760-5766, Vol. 73, No. 18
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00110-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Verreault, D., Moineau, S., Duchaine, C. (2008). Methods for Sampling of Airborne Viruses. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 72: 413-444 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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