Ebola Virus Stability Under Hospital and Environmental Conditions

The West African outbreak of Ebola virus (EBOV) is largely contained, but sporadic new cases continue to emerge. To assess the potential contribution of fomites to human infections with EBOV, we tested EBOV stability in human blood spotted onto Sierra Leonean banknotes and in syringe needles under hospital and environmental conditions. Under some of these conditions, EBOV remained infectious for >30 days, indicating that EBOV-contaminated items may pose a serious risk to humans.

Source: The Journal of Infectious Diseases - October 4, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Westhoff Smith, D., Hill-Batorski, L., N'jai, A., Eisfeld, A. J., Neumann, G., Halfmann, P., Kawaoka, Y. Tags: PUBLIC HEALTH Source Type: research