Effect of Physico-chemical Factors on the Survival of Avian Influenza Virus (H9N2)

The wide spread outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) virus in the different regions of the world has highlighted the problems in controlling its persistence and spread. Among the stakeholders, poultry industry, poultry consumers and associated human resources are particularly important, which eventually effect economic losses. There are serious threats to human health because of the risk of formation of new mutants. In this study, some physical and chemical agents have been investigated and optimized to inactivate AI virus (H9N2) type isolated from the chickens. We artificially infected the chicken eggs and determined inactivation under the influence of different physical factors (temperatures, pH and UV radiations) and chemical agents (formalin, phenol, iodine and fin virus) at different values and exposure time. Among the physical agents, the virus became inactivated at pH 5 and 9 after 30 min., at 56°C after 45 min and at 280 nm after 90 min. The chemical agents formalin, phenol, iodine and fin virus inactivate the virus in 0.5 % solution after 15, 30, 30 and 15 minutes respectively. These optimized parameters will be helpful in controlling the spread of AI virus (H9N2) in different parts of the world according to their available resources.