CELL-CULTURE AND PCR DETERMINATION OF POLIOVIRUS INACTIVATION BY DISINFECTANTS

Inactivation of poliovirus type 1 by 1 N HCl, 1 N NaOH, 0.5 and 1.0 mg of free chlorine per liter, and UV light was compared by using cell c ulture and seminested PCR (30 cycles of reverse transcriptase-PCR plus 30 cycles of seminested PCR). A minimum contact time of 45 min with H Cl, 3 min with NaOH, 3 and 6 min with 1.0 and 0.5 mg of free chlorine per liter, respectively, was required to render 1.64 x 10(2) PFU of po liovirus type 1 per mi undetectable by seminested PCR. In cell culture , a minimum contact time of 5 min to HCl, 30 s to NaOH, and 1 min to e ither chlorine concentration was required to render the viruses undete ctable by the plaque assay method. No correlation was observed between results by PCR and cell culture when viruses were exposed to UV light . These data suggest that inactivated virus with intact nucleic acid s equences can be detected by PCR.