Inactivation of human rotavirus, SA11 and other enteric viruses in effluent by disinfectants

A preparation of infectious human rotavirus, isolated from faeces and resuspended in wastewater effluent, was shown to be inactivated by chlorine, chlorine dioxide, ozone and peracetic acid. Infectivity was assayed in MA 104 cells by the detection of cell-associated viral antigen by immunofluorescence. The inactivation curves were similar to those reported for other enteric viruses. Human rotavirus was at least as resistant as poliovirus, coxsackievirus, echovirus and f2 coliphage and was strikingly less sensitive to inactivation than the simian rotavirus, SA11. The latter was generally the most sensitive of the six tested viruses yet is often taken as being representative of the human rotaviruses.