[Variations in resistance of viruses from different groups to chemico-physical decontamination methods]

The resistance of a total of 13 different viruses to some important chemico-physical influences was studied under uniform experimental conditions. Stability in tape water, thermostability and sensitivity to anodic oxidation, gamma radiation, some virucidal substances and several commercial disinfectants were tested. In evaluating the results, an attempt is made to rank the viruses investigated according to their sensitivity. On average a bovine parvovirus, and also a reovirus and three enteroviruses, proved most stable. These were followed by infectious canine hepatitis (adenoviruses). Newcastle disease (paramyxoviruses) and vaccinia (poxviruses) demonstrating less resistance. In all the tests an orthomyxovirus (influenza A), a rhabdovirus (vesicular stomatitis), and particularly a herpesvirus (pseudorabies) and a togavirus (sindbis) proved to have relatively low resistance.