Monkeypox viruses are relatively stable on surfaces.

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Smallpox viruses are known for their ability to remain infectious in the environment for a long time. A study by the Department of Medical and Molecular Virology at the Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, has shown that temperature is an important factor in this process: at room temperature, a replication-capable monkeypox virus can survive in a stainless steel surface for up to eleven days, and four degrees Celsius for up to a month. Consequently, it is very important to disinfect surfaces. According to the study, alcohol-based disinfectants are highly effective against monkeypox viruses, while hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectants have proven inadequate. The team published their findings in the Infectious Disease Journal on May 2, 2023.

Follow-up weeks

Since 2022, the monkeypox virus has been transmitted with increasing frequency from one human host to another. Although infections mainly result from direct physical contact, it is also possible to contract the virus through contaminated surfaces, for example, at home or in hospital rooms. “Smallpox viruses are known for their ability to remain infectious in the environment for a long time,” explains Dr. Toni Meister from the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum. “For monkeypox, however, we didn’t know the exact time frames until now.”

Therefore, the researchers studied them by applying the virus to disinfected stainless steel plates and storing them at different temperatures: at four degrees, at 22 degrees, which corresponds roughly to room temperature, and at 37 degrees. They determined the amount of infectious virus after different periods of time, ranging from 15 minutes to several days or weeks.

Viruses remain infectious for a long time.

Regardless of temperature, there was little change in the amount of infectious virus during the first few days. At 22 and 37 degrees, the virus concentration dropped significantly only after five days. At 37 degrees no reproducing virus was detected after six to seven days, at 22 degrees it took ten to eleven days until infection was no longer possible. At four degrees, the amount of virus only dropped sharply after 20 days, and after 30 days there was no longer any danger of infection. “This is consistent with our experience that people can still contract monkeypox from household surfaces after almost two weeks,” says Professor Eike Steinmann, head of the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology.

To reduce the risk of infection in the event of an outbreak, it is extremely important to disinfect surfaces. That’s why the researchers tested the effectiveness of five common disinfectants. They found that alcohol- or aldehyde-based disinfectants reliably reduced the risk of infection. However, a hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectant did not inactivate the virus effectively enough in the study. “Our results support the WHO recommendation to use alcohol-based surface disinfectants,” concludes Toni Meister.