Bacteriophage P22 and Staphylococcus aureus Attenuation on Nonporous Fomites as Determined by Plate Assay and Quantitative PCR

Decay rates of bacteriophage P22 and Staphylococcus aureus on six types of common household inanimate surfaces were evaluated based on cultivation and quantitative PCR. A much higher level of inactivation was observed using the plate assay, suggesting that detection of the pathogen genome in samples from fomites does not necessarily imply a health risk to humans.