Stability of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus at Varying Hydrogen Ion Concentrations

Abstract

The stability of the infective component (s) of 2 strains of vesicular stomatitis virus (New Jersey and Indiana) was studied over a wide pH range. Death or survival of virus was followed by quantitative infectivity tests in mice and embryonated eggs. The results indicated that in acid reactions, viral infectivity was lost at pH 2. The survival of both strains of virus of alkaline reactions was considerable; thus, for the New Jersey strain marked loss of viral infectivity was not apparent until a pH of 12.5 was reached. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.