Journal article
Persistence of Ebola Virus in Sterilized Wastewater
Environmental science & technology letters, v 2(9), pp 245-249
17 Aug 2015
PMID: 26523283
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
In the wake of the ongoing 2014/2015
Ebola virus outbreak, significant
questions regarding the appropriate handling of Ebola virus-contaminated
liquid waste remain, including the persistence of Ebola virus in wastewater.
To address these uncertainties, we evaluated the persistence of Ebola
virus spiked in sterilized domestic sewage. The viral titer decreased
approximately 99% within the first test day from an initial viral
titer of 10
6
TCID
50
mL
–1
;
however, it could not be determined if this initial rapid decrease
was due to aggregation or inactivation of the viral particles. The
subsequent viral titer decrease was less rapid, and infectious Ebola
virus particles persisted for all 8 days of the test. The inactivation
constant (
k
) was determined to be −1.08 (2.1
days for a 90% viral titer decrease). Due to experimental conditions,
we believe these results to be an upper bound for Ebola virus persistence
in wastewater. Wastewater composition is inherently heterogeneous;
subsequently, we caution that interpretation of these results should
be made within a holistic assessment, including the effects of wastewater
composition, dilution, and potential exposure routes within wastewater
infrastructure. While it remains unknown if Ebola virus may be transmitted
via wastewater, these data demonstrate a potential exposure route
to infectious Ebola virus via wastewater and emphasize the value of
a precautionary approach to wastewater handling in an epidemic response.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Persistence of Ebola Virus in Sterilized Wastewater
- Creators
- Kyle Bibby - University of PittsburghRobert J. Fischer - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesLeonard W. Casson - University of PittsburghElyse Stachler - University of PittsburghCharles N. Haas - Drexel UniversityVincent J. Munster - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- Publication Details
- Environmental science & technology letters, v 2(9), pp 245-249
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society; Washington, DC
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000361090000003
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84969132649
- Other Identifier
- 991019168613004721
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InCites Highlights
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Engineering, Environmental
- Environmental Sciences