Fighting Ebola with novel spore decontamination technologies for the military

Fighting Ebola with novel spore decontamination technologies for the military

Christopher J. Doona1*, Florence E. Feeherry1, Kenneth Kustin2, Gene G. Olinger3, Peter Setlow4, Alexander J. Malkin5 and Terrance Leighton6 1U.S. Army Natick – Soldier RD&E Center, Warfighter Directorate, Natick, MA, USA 2Department of Chemistry, Emeritus, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA 3National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Integrated Research Facility – Division of Clinical Research, Fort Detrick, MD, USA 4Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA 5Biosciences and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA 6Children’s Hospital – Oakland Research Institute, University of California San Francisco - Benioff, Oakland, CA, USA

 

Recently, global public health organizations such as Doctors without Borders (MSF), the World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health Canada, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. government developed and deployed Field Decontamination Kits (FDKs), a novel, lightweight, compact, reusable decontamination technology to sterilize Ebola-contaminated medical devices at remote clinical sites lacking infra-structure in crisis-stricken regions of West Africa (medical waste materials are placed in bags and burned). The basis for effectuating sterilization with FDKs is chlorine dioxide (ClO2) produced from a patented invention developed by researchers at the US Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center (NSRDEC) and commercialized as a dry mixed-chemical for bacterial spore decontamination. 

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In fact, the NSRDEC research scientists developed an ensemble of ClO2 technologies designed for different applications in decontaminating fresh produce; food contact and handling surfaces; personal protective equipment; textiles used in clothing, uniforms, tents, and shelters; graywater recycling; airplanes; surgical instruments; and hard surfaces in latrines, laundries, and deployable medical facilities. These examples demonstrate the far-reaching impact, adaptability, and versatility of these innovative technologies. We present herein the unique attributes of NSRDEC’s novel decontamination technologies and a Case Study of the development of FDKs that were deployed in West Africa by international public health organizations to sterilize Ebola-contaminated medical equipment. FDKs use bacterial spores as indicators of sterility. 

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We review the properties and structures of spores and the mechanisms of bacterial spore inactivation by ClO2. We also review mechanisms of bacterial spore inactivation by novel, emerging, and established non-thermal technologies for food preservation, such as high pressure processing, irradiation, cold plasma, and chemical sanitizers, using an array of Bacillus subtilis mutants to probe mechanisms of spore germination and inactivation. We employ techniques of high-resolution atomic force microscopy and phase contrast microscopy to examine the effects of γ-irradiation on bacterial spores of Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Bacillus atrophaeus spp. and of ClO2 on B. subtilis spores, and present in detail assays using spore bio-indicators to ensure sterility when decontaminating with ClO2.

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Results – Field Decontamination Kits in the Ebola crisis 

Emerging and re-emerging viral infectious diseases have been identified as a major threat to human health, and the current outbreak of EVD has impacted a large part of Western Africa. Conventional procedures for the decontamination of equipment during a filovirus outbreak rely on the use of chemical chlorine (bleach, aqueous hypochlorite, OCl-) for decontamination when exiting an isolation/treatment center. Electrical equipment that enters an isolation/treatment center and diagnostic facilities can only be surface decontaminated by aqueous rinses with 0.5–5.0% chlorine bleach solution (household bleach is about 6% OCl-). This procedure is likely not adequate for complete decontamination of the devices, particularly for accessing inside the devices. 

 

 

 

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