Survival of murine norovirus and hepatitis A virus in different types of manure and biosolids.

Abstract Noroviruses and hepatitis A virus (HAV) are common causes of foodborne disease. They are usually shed in feces and have been found in sewage water, biosolids, and animal manures. With the wide application of manure and biosolids on agricultural lands, there is an increasing interest in investigating virus survival in manure and biosolids. In this study, Murine norovirus-1 (MNV) and HAV were inoculated into different types of animal manure and three types of differently treated biosolids at 20°C and 4°C for up to 60 days. Both HAV and MNV viral genomes degraded immediately in high pH biosolids type 2 and 3 at time zero. For other types of manure and biosolids, HAV RNA was significantly reduced in biosolids type 1 and in liquid dairy manure (DM) after 60 days stored at 20°C, but was stable in all types of manure and biosolids type 1 at 4°C. MNV RNA was unstable in pelletized poultry litter and biosolids type 1 at 20°C, and less stable in liquid DM at both temperatures. For MNV infectivity, there wa...