Persistence of viable MS2 and Phi6 bacteriophages on carpet and dust.

Resuspension of dust from flooring is a major source of human exposure to microbial contaminants, but the persistence of viruses on dust and carpet and the contribution to human exposure are often unknown. The goal of this work is to determine viability of MS2 and Phi6 bacteriophages on cut carpet, looped carpet, and house dust both over time and after cleaning. Bacteriophages were nebulized onto carpet or dust in artificial saliva. Viability was measured at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 24, and 48 h and after cleaning by vacuum, steam, hot water extraction, and disinfection. MS2 bacteriophages showed slower viability decay rates in dust (-0.11 hr-1 ), cut carpet (-0.20 hr-1 ), and looped carpet (-0.09 hr-1 ) compared to Phi6 (-3.36 hr-1 , -1.57 hr-1 , and -0.20 hr-1 , respectively). Viable viral concentrations were reduced to below the detection limit for steam and disinfection for both MS2 and Phi6 (p < 0.05), while vacuuming and hot water extraction showed no significant changes in concentration from uncleaned carpet (p > 0.05). These results demonstrate that MS2 and Phi6 bacteriophages can remain viable in carpet and dust for several hours to days, and cleaning with heat and disinfectants may be more effective than standard vacuuming.

Indoor Dust as a Matrix for Surveillance of COVID-19.

Ongoing disease surveillance is a critical tool to mitigate viral outbreaks, especially during a pandemic. Environmental monitoring has significant promise even following widespread vaccination among high-risk populations. The goal of this work is to demonstrate molecular severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) monitoring in bulk floor dust and related samples as a proof of concept of a noninvasive environmental surveillance methodology for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and potentially other viral diseases. Surface swab, passive sampler, and bulk floor dust samples were collected from the rooms of individuals positive for COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2 was measured with quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-qPCR) and two digital PCR (dPCR) methods. Bulk dust samples had a geometric mean concentration of 163 copies/mg of dust and ranged from nondetects to 23,049 copies/mg of dust detected using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). An average of 89% of bulk dust samples were positive for the virus by the detection methods compared to 55% of surface swabs and fewer on the passive sampler (19% carpet, 29% polystyrene). In bulk dust, SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 76%, 93%, and 97% of samples measured by qPCR, chip-based dPCR, and droplet dPCR, respectively. Detectable viral RNA in the bulk vacuum bags did not measurably decay over 4 weeks, despite the application of a disinfectant before room cleaning. Future monitoring efforts should further evaluate RNA persistence and heterogeneity in dust. This study did not measure virus infectivity in dust or potential transmission associated with dust. Overall, this work demonstrates that bulk floor dust is a potentially useful matrix for long-term monitoring of viral disease in high-risk populations and buildings.IMPORTANCE Environmental surveillance to assess pathogen presence within a community is proving to be a critical tool to protect public health, and it is especially relevant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, environmental surveillance tools also allow for the detection of asymptomatic disease carriers and for routine monitoring of a large number of people as has been shown for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring. However, additional monitoring techniques are needed to screen for outbreaks in high-risk settings such as congregate care facilities. Here, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in bulk floor dust collected from rooms housing infected individuals. This analysis suggests that dust may be a useful and efficient matrix for routine surveillance of viral disease.