Ultraviolet inactivation of feline calicivirus, human enteric viruses and coliphages

Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses (NLV) are major causes of food- and water-related disease in the United States. There is no host cell line in which the NLV can be tested for infectivity. Feline calicivirus (FCV) and NLV both belong to the family Caliciviridae. FCV can be assayed for infectivity in the Crandell Reese feline kidney cell line, so FCV serves as a surrogate for NLV. This study is the first report of UV inactivation of FCV and also of using the plaque technique, in contrast to the 50% tissue culture infectious dose end point technique, to determine the FCV infectivity titer. The infectivity titers (log10 plaque-forming units/mL) of UV-inactivated FCV, hepatitis A virus (HAV), poliovirus type 1 (PV1) and two small, round coliphages were plotted as a function of UV dose and analyzed by regression analysis and analysis of variance. These fitted straight-line curves represent exponential inactivation, so UV inactivation can be said to show "one-hit kinetics." The decimal inactivation doses of UV for FCV, HAV, PV1, MS2 and phiX174 were 47.85, 36.50, 24.10, 23.04 and 15.48 mW s/cm2, respectively. FCV appears to be the most UV resistant among the tested viruses.