Essential oils derived from plants have gained increasing interest in recent years for their potential antimicrobial, antiviral, and disinfectant properties. However, data specifically examining the virucidal efficacy of essential oils against human papillomavirus (HPV), a major human pathogen, remains very limited. In this study, we compared the chemical composition of sandalwood essential oils derived from five different species (Santalum album, S. austrocaledonicum, S. insulare, S. paniculatum, and S. spicatum). We further investigated the ability of S. album sandalwood oil, the species highest in α- and β-santalol content, to inactivate infectious HPV type 16 virions dried onto glass carriers at contact times of 5 and 30 min. HPV-16 is a high-risk HPV type frequently associated with cervical and other cancers. A RT-qPCR assay based on E1^E4 spliced transcript detection was used to measure viral infectivity levels post-treatment. S. album oil exhibited moderate but incomplete virucidal activity, achieving a mean 2.59 log reduction (99.7% inactivation) of HPV-16 after a 30 min contact time. In contrast, the shorter 5 min contact time resulted in negligible reductions in viral infectivity compared to untreated controls. These data suggest that while S. album oil has the ability to inactivate HPV, it requires relatively long contact times to achieve significant reduction.

Background Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative bacterium, is the causative agent of plague. Y. pestis is a zoonotic pathogen that occasionally infects humans and became endemic in the western United States after spreading from California in 1899. Methods To better understand evolutionary patterns in Y. pestis from the southwestern United States, we sequenced and analyzed 22 novel genomes from New Mexico. Analytical methods included, assembly, multiple sequences alignment, phylogenetic tree reconstruction, genotype-phenotype correlation, and selection pressure. Results We identified four genes, including Yscp and locus tag YPO3944, which contained codons undergoing negative selection. We also observed 42 nucleotide sites displaying a statistically significant skew in the observed residue distribution based on the year of isolation. Overall, the three genes with the most statistically significant variations that associated with metadata for these isolates were sapA, fliC, and argD. Phylogenetic analyses point to a single introduction of Y. pestis into the United States with two subsequent, independent movements into New Mexico. Taken together, these analyses shed light on the evolutionary history of this pathogen in the southwestern US over a focused time range and confirm a single origin and introduction into North America.

The highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2 has led to several studies on the transmission of the virus. A little studied potential fomite of great concern in the community is currency, which has been shown to harbor microbial pathogens in several studies. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses in the United States have limited the use of banknotes in favor of credit cards. However, SARS-CoV-2 has shown greater stability on plastic in several studies. Herein, the stability of SARS-CoV-2 at room temperature on banknotes, money cards and coins was investigated. In vitro studies with live virus suggested SARS-CoV-2 was highly unstable on banknotes, showing an initial rapid reduction in viable virus and no viral detection by 24 hours. In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 displayed increased stability on money cards with live virus detected after 48 hours. Environmental swabbing of currency and money cards on and near the campus of Brigham Young University supported these results, with no detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on banknotes, and a low level on money cards. However, no viable virus was detected on either. These preliminary results suggest that the use of money cards over banknotes in order to slow the spread of this virus may be ill-advised. These findings should be investigated further through larger environmental studies involving more locations.