Persistence of the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus in water and on non-porous surface

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 6; no. 11; p. e28043
• Main Authors: Dublineau, Amélie, Batéjat, Christophe, Pinon, Anthony, Burguière, Ana Maria, Leclercq, India, Manuguerra, Jean-Claude
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.11.2011; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Avian flu; Biology; Cell Line; Copper; Dogs; Environmental conditions; Environmental parameters; Epidemics; Genome, Viral; Genome, Viral - genetics; Glass; Health aspects; Humans; Hygiene; Infectivity; Influenza; Influenza A; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - genetics; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - pathogenicity; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - physiology; Influenza, Human; Influenza, Human - epidemiology; Influenza, Human - virology; Kinetics; Laboratories; Life Sciences; Medicine; Microbial Viability; Orthomyxoviridae Infections; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - virology; Pandemics; Pandemics - statistics & numerical data; Porosity; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Salinity; Salinity effects; Salts; Stainless steel; Surface Properties; Survival; Temperature; Viruses; Water; Water Microbiology; Zoonoses; France
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028043

Knowledge of influenza A virus survival in different environmental conditions is a key element for the implementation of hygiene and personal protection measures by health authorities. As it is dependent on virus isolates even within the same subtype, we studied the survival of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic (H1N1pdm) virus in water and on non-porous surface. The H1N1pdm virus was subjected to various environmental parameters over time and tested for infectivity. In water, at low and medium salinity levels and 4°C, virus survived at least 200 days. Increasing temperature and salinity had a strong negative effect on the survival of the virus which remained infectious no more than 1 day at 35°C and 270 parts per thousand (ppt) of salt. Based on modeled data, the H1N1pdm virus retained its infectivity on smooth non-porous surface for at least 7 days at 35°C and up to 66 days at 4°C. The H1N1pdm virus has thus the ability to persist in water and on glass surface for extended periods of time, even at 35°C. Additional experiments suggest that external viral structures in direct contact with the environment are mostly involved in loss of virus infectivity.