INACTIVATION OF AEROSOLIZED NEWCASTLE DISEASE VIRUS WITH NON-THERMAL PLASMA

The airborne transmission of poultry viruses, such as Newcastle disease virus, is major health and economic concern. The poultry industry currently lacks a cost-effective solution to prevent airborne transmission. The present study explored non-thermal plasma's ability to inactivate poultry viruses, by challenging a laboratory-scale non-thermal plasma reactor with aerosolized Newcastle disease virus at increasing flow rates (i.e., decreased direct treatment time). Viruses were inactivated below the green fluorescent protein (GFP) focus-forming units per mL (GFU/mL) limit of detection at the flow rates 18, 23, and 28 liters per minute (LPM). However, this study did not differentiate between inactivation effects caused by direct NTP treatment and indirect NTP treatment (viruses exposed to ozone after collection on gelatin membrane filters). A strong relationship (R-2 =.99) was observed between decreasing relative humidity and increasing airborne virus concentrations. Twenty minutes of nebulization did not significantly change liquid virus concentration in the nebulizer.