ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE
Persistence and Transfer of Enveloped Phi 6 Bacteriophage on Hotel Guest Room Surfaces
Zahra H. Mohammad, PhD Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, University of Houston Thomas A. Little Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, University of Houston Sujata A. Sirsat, MS, PhD Conrad N. Hilton College of Global
Hospitality Leadership, University of Houston
onstrated that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted via contaminated surfaces and cause infection (Arav et al., 2021; Santarpia et al., 2020). In their review, Kampf et al. (2020) conclude that respiratory viruses—such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), or endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV)— have the ability to persist and stay viable on inanimate surfaces (i.e., metal, glass, plastic) for days, indicating that surfaces could be a potential source of infection (Duan et al., 2003; Rabenau et al., 2005). In the context of the lodging industry, hotel guest room surfaces usually are subject to fre- quent human contact and touching (Park et al., 2019). Therefore, hotel rooms should be considered at high risk of being contaminated by touch or aerosols and becoming a source of transmission of viruses, such as SARS- CoV-2 (Park et al., 2019). Previous stud- ies have shown that hotel room cleanliness is heavily based on visual observations by cleaning sta and the bioburden on surfaces is not taken into consideration (Almanza et al., 2015a, 2015b). These studies highlighted a lack of testing standards currently for hotel room sanitation. While visual cleanliness is important, it does not ensure protection of infection from pathogens. Hotels and cruise ships have been associ- ated with multiple viral outbreaks. During the SARS outbreak of 2003, the original virus source in Hong Kong was traced to an infected individual who was staying at a local hotel. The virus infected six additional travelers at the hotel before it spread further to other parts of Asia (Chien & Law, 2003). In November 2020, 33 cases of COVID-19 occurred at a quarantine hotel in Australia caused by an
b8tract The hotel guest room environment can be contami- nated through touch or aerosols and become a source of viral transmission. Understanding the extent of respiratory virus survival and persistence on hotel guest surfaces can help the lodging industry develop an eective clean- ing and disinfecting strategy and focus on hot spots. This study investigated the survival and persistence of enveloped phi 6 bacteriophages (a surrogate of SARS-CoV-2) on hotel guest room surface coupons for 30 days at 23 ± 2 °C and determined the transfer rate between fomites and hands. This study showed that phi 6 persisted for up to 2 days on the carpet, hotel room curtain, and leather coupon samples. Phi 6 persisted for up to 3 days on hotel room beds, wooden desks, door handles, and hotel amenities and up to 4 days on light switches, remote controls, and bathroom faucets. When a high level of phi 6 (10 7 PFU/ml) was used, the transfer rate from hands to surfaces ranged from 23% to 58% and the transfer rate from fomites to hands ranged from 50% to 74%. With a low level of phi 6 (10 3 PFU/ml), the transfer rate from hands to surfaces ranged from 14% to 38% and the transfer rate from fomites to hands ranged from 20% to 45%. The results revealed that phi 6 could be transmitted via hotel room surfaces. Our study results can be used as a tool to design robust and eective training strategies for the lodging industry.
Introduction The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease emerged in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and has spread worldwide to reach all countries (Shereen et al., 2020; Suman et al., 2020). The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically aected global economic and social life. The hospital- ity industry, in particular the hotel industry, has been the hardest hit by this pandemic due to government lockdowns and social distanc- ing requirements (American Hotel & Lodg- ing Association [AHLA], 2020a; Ocheni et al., 2020). Revenue in the U.S. hotel industry in
2020 fell by nearly 50%, largely due to the low occupancy nationally (AHLA, 2021). COVID-19 is a severe respiratory infec- tion caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (World Health Organization, 2020); SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by an infected person breathing out droplets or aerosols that contain the virus that land on the eyes, nose, or mouth of other people (Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention [CDC], 2022). Indirect transmission via contaminated surfaces, however, can also occur and could become the source of infec- tion (Castaño et al., 2021). Studies have dem-
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Volume 86 • Number 3
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