Rapid detection of airborne viruses by personal bioaerosol sampler combined with the PCR device

A new personal sampler had been previously developed and verified for monitoring of viable airborne viruses. The aims of this project were to investigate a possibility of the utilization of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to speed up the time consuming analytical procedures and to evaluate a lower detection limit of the combined (sampler-PCR) device. Tenfold serial dilutions of the initial suspension of the Vaccinia virus were aerosolized in the chamber and airborne viruses were monitored by two simultaneously operating samplers. The results of monitoring were successfully obtained by a standard plaque assay (live microbes) and by the PCR method (total DNA). The corresponding calculations to identify the minimal detectable concentration in the ambient air were then performed. It was found that the minimal detectable concentration of airborne viruses in the ambient air depends on the sampling time. As demonstrated, such concentration should be at least 125×103 PFU m−3 for a sampling time of as short as 1 min. The detectable concentration decreases with the increase of the sampling time and reaches 25×103 and 10×103 PFU m−3 for 5 and 12.5 min of sampling respectively.