Environmental persistence of Tulane virus - a surrogate for human norovirus.

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide. The persistence of HuNoV in the environment contributes significantly to its transmission to humans. Surrogate viruses are used to study HuNoV owing to the lack of a cell culture system for this virus. Here, the persistence of Tulane virus (TV) - a novel HuNoV surrogate - in surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) as well as on acrylic-based solid (ABS) and stainless steel (SS) surfaces was investigated. After 28 days, TV remained stable in SW (<1 log10 reduction) but was reduced by ≥3.5 to 4 log10 in GW by day 21. TV had a higher rate of reduction on SS compared with ABS, with corresponding D values of 18.5 ± 0.34 and 13.1 ± 0.36 days, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate the persistence of TV in environmental waters and on fomite surfaces.

School-Based Surveillance of Respiratory Pathogens on "High-Touch" Surfaces.

In order to assess the presence of respiratory pathogens on "high-touch" surfaces and inform sanitation practices at schools, pre-selected surfaces in elementary schools in Seattle, WA, USA were sampled weekly and tested by RT-PCR for 25 viral respiratory pathogens (including SARS-CoV-2 retrospectively) and S. pneumoniae during 2019-2020 winter respiratory illness season. Viral pathogens (rhinovirus, adenovirus, influenza) known to cause respiratory illness were detected on commonly touched surfaces, especially wooden surfaces, and matched the patterns of circulating virus in the community.