title: Enhanced recovery of airborne T3 coliphage and Pasteurella pestis bacteriophage by means of a presampling humidification technique.
abstract: This paper reports a series of experiments in which two methods of collecting airborne bacteriophage particles were compared. A standard aerosol sampler, the AGI-30, was evaluated for its competence in measuring the content of bacteriophage aerosols. It was used alone or with a prewetting or humidification device (humidifier bulb) to recover T(3) coliphage and Pasteurella pestis bacteriophage particles from aerosols maintained at 21 C and varied relative humidity. Collection of bacteriophage particles via the humidifier bulb altered both the initial recovery level and the apparent biological decay. Sampling airborne bacteriophage particles by the AGI-30 alone yielded data that apparently underestimated the maximal number of potentially viable particles within the aerosol, sometimes by as much as 3 logs.
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D000391:Air Microbiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003090:Coliphages / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D006813:Humidity; D008722:Methods; D015010:Yersinia pestis
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols