Dry Copper Surfaces may Inactivate the Norovirus

The different strains of Norovirus are the primary cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide and are known to be highly contagious.  The simple act of touching a contaminated surface is enough to spread this pathogen. This disease is usually contracted by person to person contact touching contaminated surfaces, ingesting contaminated food or water, and by aerosolization.  Many individuals may be asymptomatic and have a prolonged viral shedding increasing the spread of this infection. It is also known that it requires only a very low number of viruses to aid disease transmission in individuals.

Norovirus is often a seasonal disease but well known to strike in closed environments such as cruise ships and health care facilities.  Most reported cases are in children under the age of 5 years old, but this disease causes the most problems and highest economic cost in the elderly.  In the vulnerable elderly population this disease easily becomes life threatening.

A new study suggests that installing more copper surfaces will inhibit the spread of Norovirus and other microbes.  Copper and copper alloy surfaces were inoculated with Murine Norovirus (MNV) and after 30 minutes they found no detectable virus on the copper surfaces and none present after 60 minutes on the copper alloy surfaces.

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