The mycoplasmacidal properties of sodium hypochlorite

The effect of hypochlorite concentration on Mycoplasma mycoides ssp. mycoides viability was tested under a variety of conditions. The experimental variables employed included chlorine-cell contact time, chlorine concentration, carrier system and organic loading. Initial populations of 10(6) c.f.u./ml were killed (no survivors in 1 ml) by hypochlorite solution containing 25 p.p.m. available chlorine in 15 s in the absence of organic load and 50 p.p.m. available chlorine in 5 min in the presence of 1% protein. Higher concentrations of hypochlorite were required to disinfect a porous carrier system in the absence or presence of protein. The results are in contrast to previous reports that M. bovis is killed only by high hypochlorite concentrations.