Bacteriophages as surrogates for the study of viral dispersion in open air

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has revived the debate about the routes of virus transmission and their likelihoods. It is of utmost importance to assess the risks of contamination of susceptible people by infectious individuals and to evaluate the level of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses transmission in the community. Most countries have imposed non-pharmaceutical measures to contain SARS-CoV-2 transmission, including physical distancing and mask wearing. Here we evaluated the spreading of viruses in open air using harmless Escherichia coli bacteriophages as a surrogate. Phages were sprayed towards Petri dishes seeded with bacteria at different lengths and angles. Our results showed that the transmission rate decreased exponentially with distance. The highest recorded transmission rate was 9 × 10 - 6 PFU/plate when phages were sprayed from a 1 m distance, suggesting that the probability of transmission of a single virus at a 1 m distance is 1:100,000.