Survival of Viral Biowarfare Agents in Disinfected Waters
Abstract
Protecting civilian and military water supplies has received more attention since the United States began its war on terror in 2001. Both chlorine and bromine are used by branches of the U.S. military for disinfecting water supplies; however, limited data exists as to the effectiveness of these additives when used against viral biowarfare agents. The present study sought to evaluate the survival of selected viral biothreat agents in disinfected water. Disinfected water samples were spiked with vaccinia virus strain WR and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus strain TC-83 each separately to a final concentration of approximately1×106PFU/mL, and survival was assessed by plaque assay. Both viruses were inactivated by 1 mg/L free available chlorine (FAC) and 2mg/L total bromine within one hour. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that both chlorine and bromine are effective disinfectants against vaccinia virus and VEE strain TC-83 at the concentrations tested.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Source ID
- 10.1155/2010/412694
Entities
People
- Alan W. Zulich
- Amanda E. Chambers
- Joseph M. Insalaco
- Mary Margaret Wade
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Science Applications International Corporation
- United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command