Aerosol stability of bovine parainfluenza type 3 virus.

Aerosols of bovine parainfluenza type 3 virus were generated with a Devilbiss 40 nebulizer from Eagle's minimum essential medium and nasal secretion from a non-infected calf and stored in a rotating drum at temperatures of 6 degrees C or 32 degrees C and relative humidities of 30% or 90%. The aerosols were sampled at seven minutes, one, two and three hours after the start of generation with an all glass impinger (AGI-30) and titrated for infectivity in cell cultures. Physical decay was determined by a rhodamine tracer technique. Media, temperature or relative humidity had little effect on the survival of parainfluenza type 3 virus during spraying (zero to seven minutes). During aging of aerosols at 32 degrees C and 30% relative humidity, parainfluenza type 3 virus was less stable in Eagle's minimum essential medium than in nasal secretion from a noninfected calf, but at 6 degrees C and 30% relative humidity, the virus was more stable in Eagle's minimum essential medium. At 32 degrees C, the virus was less stable during aging at 90% relative humidity than at 30% relative humidity. The virus was consistently more stable during aging of aerosols at 6 degrees C than at 32 degrees C.