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Virucidal Efficacy of a Hydrogen Peroxide Nebulization Against Murine Norovirus and Feline Calicivirus, Two Surrogates of Human Norovirus

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Abstract

Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are amongst the leading causes of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis in humans and can be transmitted via person-to-person contact, via contact with contaminated surfaces or by consumption of contaminated food. Contaminated surfaces in healthcare settings contribute to the transmission of viruses. No-touch automated room disinfection systems might prevent such a spread of contamination and thus their virucidal effect needs to be evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a nebulization system spraying hydrogen peroxide on two main surrogates of HuNoV, namely murine norovirus (MNV) and feline calicivirus (FCV). The viruses were dried on cover glasses and on stainless steel discs and exposed to nebulization. The number of infectious viral particles and genomic copies before and after the nebulization was compared. The efficacy in reducing infectivity of both surrogates was demonstrated. For the infectious viral titre of MNV and FCV, a log10 reduction factor ≥4.84 and 4.85 was observed after nebulization, respectively, for tests on cover glasses and ≥3.90 and 5.30, respectively, for tests on stainless steel discs. Only low reductions in genomic copy numbers were observed for both surrogates. The nebulization of hydrogen peroxide showed a clear virucidal effect on both HuNoV surrogates, MNV and FCV, on two different carriers and the use of nebulization should be promoted in complementarity with conventional disinfection methods in healthcare settings and food processing facilities to reduce viral load and spread of contamination.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Herbert Virgin and Dr Larissa Thackray (Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA) for providing the MNV isolates and RAW 264.7 cells; Dr Elisabeth Mathijs and Lorène Dams for their help with MNV and FCV cell cultures, respectively, and Dr Louisa Ludwig for the careful English proofreading of the manuscript. The nebulization system, the H2O2 suspension and the Hycontrol® were kindly provided by Hymetec (Isnes, Belgium).

Funding

This work was supported by the research funds of the University of Liège.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health (FARAH), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    William Zonta, Axel Mauroy & Etienne Thiry

  2. Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Applied to Veterinary Science, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health (FARAH), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Frederic Farnir

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  1. William Zonta
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Correspondence to Etienne Thiry.

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Zonta, W., Mauroy, A., Farnir, F. et al. Virucidal Efficacy of a Hydrogen Peroxide Nebulization Against Murine Norovirus and Feline Calicivirus, Two Surrogates of Human Norovirus. Food Environ Virol 8, 275–282 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12560-016-9253-5

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