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The effect of temperature and humidity on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses

View ORCID ProfileDylan H. Morris, View ORCID ProfileKwe Claude Yinda, View ORCID ProfileAmandine Gamble, View ORCID ProfileFernando W. Rossine, View ORCID ProfileQishen Huang, Trenton Bushmaker, View ORCID ProfileRobert J. Fischer, M. Jeremiah Matson, View ORCID ProfileNeeltje van Doremalen, View ORCID ProfilePeter J. Vikesland, View ORCID ProfileLinsey C. Marr, View ORCID ProfileVincent J. Munster, James O. Lloyd-Smith
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.16.341883
Dylan H. Morris
1Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, NJ, USA
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  • For correspondence: dhmorris@princeton.edu
Kwe Claude Yinda
2National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Amandine Gamble
3Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Fernando W. Rossine
1Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, NJ, USA
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Qishen Huang
4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
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Trenton Bushmaker
2National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
5Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
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Robert J. Fischer
2National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
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M. Jeremiah Matson
2National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
6Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA
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Neeltje van Doremalen
2National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Peter J. Vikesland
4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
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Linsey C. Marr
4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
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Vincent J. Munster
2National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT, USA
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James O. Lloyd-Smith
3Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Abstract

Since emerging in late 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has caused a global pandemic, and it may become an endemic human pathogen. Understanding the impact of environmental conditions on SARS-CoV-2 viability and its transmission potential is crucial to anticipating epidemic dynamics and designing mitigation strategies. Ambient temperature and humidity are known to have strong effects on the environmental stability of viruses1, but there is little data for SARS-CoV-2, and a general quantitative understanding of how temperature and humidity affect virus stability has remained elusive. Here, we characterise the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on an inert surface at a variety of temperature and humidity conditions, and introduce a mechanistic model that enables accurate prediction of virus stability in unobserved conditions. We find that SARS-CoV-2 survives better at low temperatures and extreme relative humidities; median estimated virus half-life was more than 24 hours at 10 °C and 40 % RH, but approximately an hour and a half at 27 °C and 65 % RH. Our results highlight scenarios of particular transmission risk, and provide a mechanistic explanation for observed superspreading events in cool indoor environments such as food processing plants. Moreover, our model predicts observations from other human coronaviruses and other studies of SARS-CoV-2, suggesting the existence of shared mechanisms that determine environmental stability across a number of enveloped viruses.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://github.com/dylanhmorris/sars-cov-2-temp-humidity

  • https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4093265

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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The effect of temperature and humidity on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses
Dylan H. Morris, Kwe Claude Yinda, Amandine Gamble, Fernando W. Rossine, Qishen Huang, Trenton Bushmaker, Robert J. Fischer, M. Jeremiah Matson, Neeltje van Doremalen, Peter J. Vikesland, Linsey C. Marr, Vincent J. Munster, James O. Lloyd-Smith
bioRxiv 2020.10.16.341883; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.16.341883
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The effect of temperature and humidity on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses
Dylan H. Morris, Kwe Claude Yinda, Amandine Gamble, Fernando W. Rossine, Qishen Huang, Trenton Bushmaker, Robert J. Fischer, M. Jeremiah Matson, Neeltje van Doremalen, Peter J. Vikesland, Linsey C. Marr, Vincent J. Munster, James O. Lloyd-Smith
bioRxiv 2020.10.16.341883; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.16.341883

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