Microbial inactivation for safe and rapid diagnostics of infectious samples.

The high risk associated with biological threat agents dictates that any suspicious sample be handled under strict surety and safety controls and processed under high-level containment in specialized laboratories. This study attempted to find a rapid, reliable, and simple method for the complete inactivation of a wide range of pathogens, including spores, vegetative bacteria, and viruses, while preserving microbial nucleic acid fragments suitable for PCRs and proteinaceous epitopes for detection by immunoassays. Formaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and guanidium thiocyanate did not completely inactivate high titers of bacterial spores or viruses after 30 min at 21°C. Glutaraldehyde and sodium hypochlorite showed high microbicidal activity but obliterated the PCR or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) detection of bacterial spores or viruses. High-level inactivation (more than 6 log(10)) of bacterial spores (Bacillus atrophaeus), vegetative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa), an RNA virus (the alphavirus Pixuna virus), or a DNA virus (the orthopoxvirus vaccinia virus) was attained within 30 min at 21°C by treatment with either peracetic acid or cupric ascorbate with minimal hindrance of subsequent PCR tests and immunoassays. The data described here should provide the basis for quickly rendering field samples noninfectious for further analysis under lower-level containment and considerably lower cost.