Inactivation of Semliki Forest Virus in aerosols.

Purified Semliki forest virus in aerosols is inactivated rapidly at 40% and above 70% relative humidity. At all humidities tested the decay of virus infectivity runs parallel with the decrease in hemagglutination activity, whereas the biological integrity of the virus ribonucleic acid is preserved. Also, free infectious ribonucleic acid is stable after spraying at all relative humidities. Evidence is presented for the hypothesis that above 20% relative humidity, virus inactivation in aersols is mainly due to surface-dependent factors, damaging the virus coat.