The tomato industry has been battling Tomato brown rugose fruit virus for years. A British study tested the effects of different greenhouse surfaces on virus survival, the effectiveness of different disinfectants and heat treatment against ToBRFV (surfaces of steel, aluminum, hard plastic, polyethylene, glass and concrete).
ToBRFV survived for at least 7 days on all surfaces tested and for at least 6 months on some.
The virus survived for more than two hours on hands and gloves. Hand washing proved unreliable in removing the virus.
The researchers point out that glutaraldehyde and quaternary ammonium compounds were effective after one hour on all surfaces tested. Other disinfectants were effective after one hour of contact time on all surfaces except concrete. Even on concrete, sodium hypochlorite is "reasonably effective" against ToBRFV.
A five-minute immersion in plastic containers in water at 90ºC is effective in neutralizing ToBRFV. A five-minute immersion in 70ºC is not. So treating the virus with hot water is effective.
The study was published in the journal Viruses MDPI. View the study here.