Some respiratory viruses, likely including COVID-19, can spread through the air on dust, fibers and other microscopic particles, according to experiments with laboratory animals by researchers at the University of California-Davis and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Respiratory viruses traditionally spread through liquid droplets from speaking, coughing or sneezing. The study, published Aug. 18 in Nature Communications, revealed microscopic, non-respiratory particles could transmit influenza between guinea pigs.
“It’s really shocking to most virologists and epidemiologists that airborne dust, rather than expiratory droplets, can carry influenza virus capable of infecting animals,” said Professor William Ristenpart of the Cal-Davis department of chemical engineering, one of the research project’s leaders.
Like COVID-19, influenza virus can also spread by touching hard surfaces like countertops or door handles, then touching the mucous membranes in the mouth, nose and eyes. These secondary surfaces, called fomites, were the focus of the new study.
The researchers created what they called aerosolized fomites to carry the virus between guinea pigs. They found that immune guinea pigs with influenza virus applied to their fur could transmit the virus to other guinea pigs. Because the “infected” guinea pigs could not spread the virus through their respiratory tract, the non-respiratory particles were the sole means of infection.
The team counted spikes of up to 1,000 particles per second, using an automated particle sizer, as the uninfected guinea pigs moved around the cage. The guinea pigs’ breathing produced a constant, much lower rate.
To test whether microscopic fibers from an inanimate object could carry infectious viruses, the researchers treated facial tissues with influenza virus, allowed them to dry, then crumpled them in from the particle sizer. That action released up to 900 particles per second in sizes that could be inhaled. They also were able to infect cells from these particles.
The study, though dedicated to influenza virus, adds another layer of possible transmission of COVID-19 and the importance of masks and social distancing in its prevention.
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