Key result
Echovirus surface persistence correlates moderately with reported clinical case frequencies.
Why the study?
Enteroviruses are transmitted primarily via the fecal-oral route, potentially through hand contact with contaminated fomites, where viral persistence likely plays an important role.
Echoviruses more frequently reported in clinical cases persist longer on vinyl surfaces, suggesting echovirus 6 could serve as a worst-case challenge surrogate for poliovirus in disinfectant efficacy testing.
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Echovirus 6 may inform surrogate selection for poliovirus disinfectant testing; leaves open validation in human-relevant models.
family are transmitted primarily by the fecal-oral route. Transmission may occur following hand contact with contaminated fomites and subsequent ingestion of virus conveyed to the mouth by the contaminated hand. The persistence of these viruses on fomites likely plays a role in this transmission scenario. Six echoviruses (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7) that cause frequently reported clinical cases in the United States were studied, along with poliovirus type 1 vaccine strain LSc-2ab. The infectivity half-lives of the enteroviruses deposited on vinyl tile coupons in a 10% fecal solution ranged from 1.7 to 12.6 h. The echovirus serotypes most commonly associated with reported infections persisted longer on the vinyl tiles than the less commonly reported types. This increased persistence on surfaces may favor the transmission of these echoviruses through the fecal-oral route. These results inform the future selection of appropriate model enteroviruses for challenging newly formulated and eco-friendly disinfectants or other strategies in infection prevention and control for enteroviruses.
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Gerba et al. (2025) studied Enterovirus environmental persistence and clinical case incidence (n=7). Deposition of echoviruses 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 in a 10% fecal solution onto 1x1-inch vinyl tile coupons at room temperature (~27 °C) and 40–60% relative humidity vs. Poliovirus type 1 vaccine strain LSc-2ab (Sabin) at 5.7 log10 PFU on vinyl tile coupons was evaluated on Infectivity decay half-life (t1/2) on vinyl coupons and correlation with U.S. CDC reported clinical case incidence (1970–2005) (r = 0.659). Echoviruses deposited on vinyl tiles in a 10% fecal solution exhibited infectivity half-lives ranging from <1.7 to 12.6 h, correlating moderately with CDC-reported clinical case frequencies.
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