Antiviral activity of copper contact surfaces against MS2 coliphage and hepatitis a virus

Aims Viral diseases can be indirectly transmitted by contaminated non-food contact surfaces to final food products by cross-contamination. The interaction of metal surfaces and viruses, MS2 coliphage and hepatitis A virus (HAV), was investigated for strategy development in decreasing this transmission risk. Methods and results MS2 deposited onto stainless-steel surface was stable but inactivated at 0.95 log(10) PFU min(-1) on 99.9% copper surfaces. Greater copper-inactivation of MS2 was observed in (a) simple media (phosphate buffered saline, PBS) than protein-rich media (beef extract buffer), and (b) acidic than pH & GE; 6.8 environments. Among food matrices (strawberry juices and beef broth), the greatest MS2 inactivation by copper occurred in filtered strawberry juice at pH 3.5. At a reduction of 0.17 log(10) PFU min(-1), HAV survived longer than MS2 on copper by FRhK-4 cell infectivity assay. Conclusions The inactivation of virus on copper surfaces was greater in acidic viral surrounding environments and in simple PBS medium. In the same 99% PBS medium, MS2 may not be an appropriate surrogate for HAV when assessing viral inactivation on copper surfaces.

Automated summary

The interaction between metal surfaces and viruses was investigated to develop strategies for reducing the transmission risk of viral diseases through contaminated non-food contact surfaces. The results showed that copper surfaces had a significant inactivation effect on the MS2 coliphage, especially in acidic environments. This finding suggests that using copper surfaces could be an effective way to decrease the cross-contamination risk of viruses in food production.