title: Disinfection protocols for necropsy equipment in rabies laboratories: Safety of personnel and diagnostic outcome.
abstract: In the last decades, molecular techniques have gradually been adopted for the rapid confirmation of results obtained through gold standard methods. However, international organisations discourage their use in routine laboratory investigations for rabies post-mortem diagnosis, as they may lead to false positive results due to cross-contamination. Cleaning and disinfection are essential to prevent cross-contamination of samples in the laboratory environment. The present study evaluated the efficacy of selected disinfectants on rabies-contaminated necropsy equipment under organic challenge using a carrier-based test. The occurrence of detectable Rabies virus (RABV) antigen, viable virus and RNA was assessed through the gold standard Fluorescent Antibody Test, the Rabies Tissue Culture Infection Test and molecular techniques, respectively. None of the tested disinfectants proved to be effective under label conditions. Off label disinfection protocols were found effective for oxidizing agents and phenolic, only. Biguanide and quaternary ammonium compound were both ineffective under all tested conditions. Overall, discordant results were obtained when different diagnostic tests were compared, which means that in the presence of organic contamination common disinfectants may not be effective enough on viable RABV or RNA. Our results indicate that an effective disinfection protocol should be carefully validated to guarantee staff safety and reliability of results.
authors.affiliation: FAO and National Reference Centre for Rabies, OIE Collaborating Centre and National Reference Centre for Diseases at the Animal-Human Interface, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Italy. Electronic address: raiello@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aiello
authors.affiliation: FAO and National Reference Centre for Rabies, OIE Collaborating Centre and National Reference Centre for Diseases at the Animal-Human Interface, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Italy. Electronic address: bazecchin@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zecchin
authors.affiliation: FAO and National Reference Centre for Rabies, OIE Collaborating Centre and National Reference Centre for Diseases at the Animal-Human Interface, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Italy. Electronic address: dsbio.izsve@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tiozzo Caenazzo
authors.affiliation: FAO and National Reference Centre for Rabies, OIE Collaborating Centre and National Reference Centre for Diseases at the Animal-Human Interface, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Italy. Electronic address: gcattoli@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cattoli
authors.affiliation: FAO and National Reference Centre for Rabies, OIE Collaborating Centre and National Reference Centre for Diseases at the Animal-Human Interface, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Italy. Electronic address: pdebenedictis@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Benedictis
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001344:Autopsy; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006801:Humans; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D011818:Rabies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D012449:Safety; D013048:Specimen Handling
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004202:Disinfectants
keywords: Disinfection; Molecular methods; Post-mortem diagnosis; Rabies; Safety