AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Aerosolization of Ebola Virus Surrogates in Wastewater Systems
KAISEN LIN, Mari Lee, Amy Pruden, Linsey Marr, Virginia Tech
Abstract Number: 139 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract Patients with Ebola virus disease may produce copious amounts of diarrhea that contains large numbers of virions. As flush toilets and sanitary sewer systems are known to produce aerosols, it is possible that Ebola virus could be aerosolized during the routine use and maintenance of wastewater systems, creating a risk for inhalation exposure to hospital and sewer workers. We evaluated the potential for aerosolization of viruses in three wastewater systems: flush toilets, a lab-scale aeration basin, and a lab-scale sewer model of converging pipes with a manhole. The model wastewater, consisting of activated sludge or anaerobically-digested sludge, was spiked with bacteriophages MS2 and Phi6 as Ebola virus surrogates. We measured the aerosol size distribution using a scanning mobility particle sizer and an aerodynamic particle sizer, collected aerosols on filters, and quantified both viable and total airborne bacteriophage concentrations as well as their emission rates. While the toilet did not generate any airborne viable MS2, the lab-scale aeration basin produced airborne MS2 concentrations of 3,900-8,300 plaque forming units per liter. From these measurements, we determined emission rates that can be used to predict inhalation exposure in a variety of scenarios. The risk of inhalation exposure to Ebola virus is expected to be low, but because it is a “high-consequence” pathogen, practitioners should consider respiratory protection when working in wastewater environments where Ebola virus may be present.