Inactivation of rabies virus

•Virkon S (1%) inactivates rabies virus within 1 min.•Isopropyl alcohol (70%) is suitable for routine surface decontamination.•Paraformaldehyde (3% or 4%) treatment for 30 min is appropriate for fixing cells and inactivates rabies virus.

Rabies virus is a notifiable pathogen that must be handled in high containment facilities where national and international guidelines apply. For the effective inactivation of rabies virus, a number of reagents were tested. Virkon S (1%) solution caused more than 4 log reduction of rabies virus in culture medium supplemented with 10% foetal calf serum within 1 min. Isopropyl alcohol (70%) treatment resulted in >3 log reduction of rabies virus within 20 s when applied at a ratio of 19:1, making it a suitable agent for surface decontamination whereas 70% ethanol was ineffective. Rabies virus (from 102.33 to 103 ffu/ml) was also inactivated when cell cultures were fixed with 3% or 4% paraformaldehyde for 30 min. Regardless of inactivation procedure, when taking inactivated virus preparations out of a biological containment envelope, proof of inocuity must be demonstrated to cover any possible error/deviation from procedure.