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. 1970 Apr;19(4):624–628. doi: 10.1128/am.19.4.624-628.1970

Airborne Stability of Tailless Bacterial Viruses S-13 and MS-2

Edward J Dubovi 1, Thomas G Akers 1
PMCID: PMC376752  PMID: 4911441

Abstract

The effect of relative humidity (RH) on the airborne stability of two small bacterial viruses, S-13 and MS-2, was studied. Poorest recovery of S-13 was obtained at 50% RH. Humidification prior to aerosol sampling significantly increased the recovery of S-13 at RH deleterious to the airborne virus. A commercial preparation of MS-2 suspended in a buffered saline solution showed a rapid loss of viability at RH above 30%, whereas a laboratory preparation containing 1.3% tryptone showed high recoveries at all RH studied. Dilution of the commercial MS-2 into tryptone broth conferred stability on the airborne virus. Humidification prior to sampling significantly reduced the viable recovery from aerosols of commercial MS-2, whereas the laboratory preparation was unaffected.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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