Antiviral effects of bacteria isolated from manure.

The objectives of this study were to determine the role of microbial activity in inactivation of hepatitis A virus (HAV) and to learn how the virus is inactivated. Of 31 bacterial strains isolated from animal manure, 10 efficiently inactivated HAV in fluid thioglycollate medium, with D10 values (time, in days, required for a 90% reduction of virus titer) of ≤ 10 at 30°C. The D10 value of the control suspension without bacteria was 35.1. Most of the 10 strains raised the pH of the medium during growth; comparisons suggested that alkalinity was not a principal antiviral property of these cultures. Cell-free filtrates of nine of these strains caused net 90% inactivation of HAV within 6 days at 37°C; the other did not. The inactivation capacity of four of the nine culture filtrates was significantly reduced by incubation with selected protease inhibitors before the virus was added. These protease inhibitors did not affect the activities of the other five culture filtrates. Fractions prepared by ultrafiltration (nominal molecular weights <1,000) from two of these cultures inactivated HAV suggesting that their mode of action was not enzymatic.