Survival of Lassa Virus in Blood and Tissue Culture Media and in a Small Particle Aerosol.

Sophie J Smither,Lin S Eastaugh,James S Findlay,Lyn M O’Brien,Mark S Lever

doi:10.3390/pathogens9090680

Sophie J Smither, Lin S Eastaugh + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9090680

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Journal: Pathogens	Publication Date: Aug 21, 2020
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Abstract

Knowledge of the survival and stability of a pathogen is important for understanding its risk, reducing its transmission, and establishing control measures. Lassa virus is endemic in West Africa, causes severe disease, and is an emerging pathogen of concern. Our study examined the survival of Lassa virus in blood and tissue culture media at two different temperatures. The stability of Lassa virus held within a small particle aerosol was also measured. In liquids, Lassa virus was found to decay more quickly at 30 °C compared to room temperature. Sealed samples protected from environmental desiccation were more stable than samples open to the environment. In a small particle aerosol, the decay rate of Lassa virus was determined at 2.69% per minute. This information can contribute to risk assessments and inform mitigation strategies in the event of an outbreak of Lassa virus.

Highlights

Viruses frequently cause outbreaks of severe disease in humans
In small volumes of blood and tissue culture media, samples representative of common hospital and laboratory matrices, Lassa virus did not survive for long periods of time at an elevated temperature or when exposed to the open environment
Compared to other Hazard Group 4 viruses studied under similar conditions, Lassa virus was found to be less stable than Nipah virus, which could be detected after three days under identical conditions

Summary

Introduction

Viruses frequently cause outbreaks of severe disease in humans. These outbreaks can be geographically limited or can quickly spread to infect an entire region or spread globally. There are a range of factors that facilitate the ease by which viruses can spread through a population. One such factor is the stability of the virus on surfaces or in an aerosol. A member of the Arenaviridae family, causes Lassa (haemorrhagic) fever and is responsible for approximately 5000 deaths a year. The disease, endemic in West Africa, is spread by rats; the main route of transmission is direct contact with rat excreta or items contaminated with rat faeces or urine [1,2]. Nosocomial transmission can occur but person-to-person transmission is rare [1,3]

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