Efficacy of certain disinfectants against infectious pancreatic necrosis virus

The virucidal properties of iodophor, chlorine (sodium hypochlorite), formalin, thimerosal (organic mercurial compound), malachite green, and acriflavine were tested on infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). Iodine and chlorine showed good activity, but efficacy depended on the concentration of virus, the presence of organic matter (calf serum), and water pH. Water hardness (0-300 mg 1−1 as CaCO3) did not affect virucidal activity. In a 5 min exposure, 4 mg 1−1available iodine inactivated 103.9 TCID50 m1−1 IPNV but 16 mg 1−1 iodine were needed for inactivation of 106.3TCID50m1−1. The addition of 0-5% calf serum significantly reduced the iodine concentration and the virucidal activity. In comparison, 4 mg 1−1 chlorine were needed to inactivate 1046 TCID50 m1−1 IPNV in 5 min. However, the addition of 0-07 % serum greatly reduced the chlorine concentration and extended the virucidal contact time to 30 min or more. IPNV at 106.3 TCID60 m1−1 was not inactivated by exposures for 60 min to 0-2% formalin, 10 min to 0-2% thimerosal, 60 min to 5 mg 1−1 malachite green, or 20 min to 500 mg 1−1 acriflavine. However, acriflavine at 0-5 mg 1−1 in cell culture media prevented the development of cytopathology caused by IPNV and may be useful in the treatment of the disease.