Feasibility of viral dust infection via air movement and dispersion of dried viral particles from the floor.

The contributions of splash from vomiting and the dispersion of dried-up virus from a contaminated floor surface to community gastroenteritis outbreaks caused by Norovirus (NoV) were evaluated, using Feline calicivirus (FCV) as an NoV surrogate. There was no difference in the size distribution of FCV-containing particles around 0.75 µm) collected from a virus-sprayed chamber 1 and 12 hr after nebulization. FCV clearly dispersed after hitting a floor surface contaminated with dried virus. These results suggest that NoV can likely form airborne droplet nuclei, and dust may be the main route of infection transmission. J. Med. Virol. 89:931-935, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.