Stability of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) under different environmental conditions

N van Doremalen; T Bushmaker; V J Munster

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.38.20590

Rapid communications Open Access

Like 0

Download

Stability of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) under different environmental conditions
N van Doremalen¹ , T Bushmaker¹ , V J Munster¹
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA

Correspondence:
V Munster
vincent.munster nih.gov
View Citation Hide Citation

Citation style for this article: van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Munster V J. Stability of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) under different environmental conditions. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(38):pii=20590. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.38.20590 Received: 10 Sept 2013

Abstract

The stability of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was determined at 20°C - 40% relative humidity (RH); 30°C - 30% RH and 30°C - 80% RH. MERS-CoV was more stable at low temperature/low humidity conditions and could still be recovered after 48 hours. During aerosolisation of MERS-CoV, no decrease in stability was observed at 20°C - 40% RH. These data suggest the potential of MERS-CoV to be transmitted via contact or fomite transmission due to prolonged environmental presence. .