Yeap Jia Wei, Kaur Simran, Lou Fangfei, DiCaprio Erin, Morgan Mark, Linton Richard, Li Jianrong
Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2015 Oct 16;82(1):116-23. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02489-15. Print 2016 Jan 1.
Acute gastroenteritis caused by human norovirus is a significant public health issue. Fresh produce and seafood are examples of high-risk foods associated with norovirus outbreaks. Food contact surfaces also have the potential to harbor noroviruses if exposed to fecal contamination, aerosolized vomitus, or infected food handlers. Currently, there is no effective measure to decontaminate norovirus on food contact surfaces. Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas is a strong oxidizer and is used as a decontaminating agent in food processing plants. The objective of this study was to determine the kinetics and mechanism of ClO2 gas inactivation of a norovirus surrogate, murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1), on stainless steel (SS) coupons. MNV-1 was inoculated on SS coupons at the concentration of 10(7) PFU/coupon. The samples were treated with ClO2 gas at 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 4 mg/liter for up to 5 min at 25°C and a relative humidity of 85%, and virus survival was determined by plaque assay. Treatment of the SS coupons with ClO2 gas at 2 mg/liter for 5 min and 2.5 mg/liter for 2 min resulted in at least a 3-log reduction in MNV-1, while no infectious virus was recovered at a concentration of 4 mg/liter even within 1 min of treatment. Furthermore, it was found that the mechanism of ClO2 gas inactivation included degradation of viral protein, disruption of viral structure, and degradation of viral genomic RNA. In conclusion, treatment with ClO2 gas can serve as an effective method to inactivate a human norovirus surrogate on SS contact surfaces.
人诺如病毒引起的急性胃肠炎是一个重大的公共卫生问题。新鲜农产品和海鲜是与诺如病毒暴发相关的高风险食品的例子。如果食品接触表面暴露于粪便污染、雾化呕吐物或受感染的食品处理人员，也有可能携带诺如病毒。目前，尚无有效的措施对食品接触表面的诺如病毒进行去污处理。二氧化氯（ClO2）气体是一种强氧化剂，在食品加工厂用作去污剂。本研究的目的是确定ClO2气体对不锈钢（SS）试片上诺如病毒替代物鼠诺如病毒1（MNV-1）的灭活动力学和机制。将MNV-1以10(7) PFU/试片的浓度接种在SS试片上。在25°C和相对湿度85%的条件下，将样品用浓度为1、1.5、2、2.5和4 mg/升的ClO2气体处理长达5分钟，并通过噬斑测定法确定病毒存活情况。用2 mg/升的ClO2气体处理SS试片5分钟和用2.5 mg/升的ClO2气体处理2分钟导致MNV-1至少减少3个对数，而在4 mg/升的浓度下，即使处理1分钟内也未检测到感染性病毒。此外，发现ClO2气体灭活的机制包括病毒蛋白的降解、病毒结构的破坏和病毒基因组RNA的降解。总之，用ClO2气体处理可作为一种有效的方法来灭活SS接触表面上的人诺如病毒替代物。
