Characterization of ozone disinfection of murine norovirus

Despite the importance of human noroviruses (NoVs) in public health, little information concerning the effectiveness of ozone against NoVs is available. We determined the efficacy of ozone disinfection using murine norovirus (MNV) as a surrogate of human NoV. MNV in ozone demand-free buffer was exposed to a predetermined dose of ozone at two different pHs and temperatures. The virus remaining in the solution was analyzed by plaque assay, real-time TaqMan reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) (short template), and long-template conventional RT-PCR. Under all conditions, more than 99% of the MNV was inactivated by ozone at 1 mg/liter within 2 min. Both RT-PCR assays significantly underestimated the inactivation of MNV, compared with that measured by plaque assay. Our results indicate that NoV may be more resistant to ozone than has been previously reported. Nevertheless, proper ozone disinfection practices can be used to easily control its transmission in water.