A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes

Daniel Todt; Toni Luise Meister; Barbora Tamele; John Howes; Dajana Paulmann; Britta Becker; Florian H. Brill; Mark Wind; Jack Schijven; Natalie Heinen; Volker Kinast; Baxolele Mhlekude; Christine Goffinet; Adalbert Krawczyk; Jörg Steinmann; Stephanie Pfaender; Yannick Brüggemann; Eike Steinmann

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908

A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes

Daniel Todt, Toni Luise Meister, Barbora Tamele, John Howes, Dajana Paulmann, Britta Becker, Florian H. Brill, Mark Wind, Jack Schijven, Natalie Heinen, Volker Kinast, Baxolele Mhlekude, Christine Goffinet, Adalbert Krawczyk, Jörg Steinmann, Stephanie Pfaender, Yannick Brüggemann, Eike Steinmann^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a significant threat to global health. While respiratory aerosols or droplets are considered as the main route of human-to-human transmission, secretions expelled by infected individuals can also contaminate surfaces and objects, potentially creating the risk of fomite-based transmission. Consequently, frequently touched objects such as paper currency and coins have been suspected as potential transmission vehicle. To assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by banknotes and coins, we examined the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and bovine coronavirus, as surrogate with lower biosafety restrictions, on these different means of payment and developed a touch transfer method to examine transfer efficiency from contaminated surfaces to fingertips. Although we observed prolonged virus stability, our results indicate that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via contaminated coins and banknotes is unlikely and requires high viral loads and a timely order of specific events.

Original language	English
Article number	102908
Pages (from-to)	1-16
Journal	iScience
Volume	24
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908
Publication status	Published - 20 Aug 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and René Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank .

Funding Information:
We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charit? Universit?tsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and Ren? Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank. Conceptualization, D.T. B.T. J.H. F.H.B. J.S.T. S.P. E.S; data curation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. M.W. J.S; formal analysis, D.T. and J.S; funding acquisition, B.T. J.H. and E.S; investigation, T.L.M. D.P. B.B. N.H. V.K. and B.M.; methodology, D.T. F.H.B. S.P. and E.S; project administration, B.T, J.H. F.H.B. and E.S; resources, F.H.B. B.M. C.G. A.K. J.S.T. S.P. and E.S. validation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. F.H.B. M.W. J.S. and E.S; visualization, D.T. and Y.B; writing ? original draft, D.T. Y.B. S.P. and E.S; writing ? review & editing, all authors. D.T. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank. E.S. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank and is a member of the scientific advisory board of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH. F.H.B. is executive partner of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)

Funding

We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and René Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank . We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charit? Universit?tsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and Ren? Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank. Conceptualization, D.T. B.T. J.H. F.H.B. J.S.T. S.P. E.S; data curation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. M.W. J.S; formal analysis, D.T. and J.S; funding acquisition, B.T. J.H. and E.S; investigation, T.L.M. D.P. B.B. N.H. V.K. and B.M.; methodology, D.T. F.H.B. S.P. and E.S; project administration, B.T, J.H. F.H.B. and E.S; resources, F.H.B. B.M. C.G. A.K. J.S.T. S.P. and E.S. validation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. F.H.B. M.W. J.S. and E.S; visualization, D.T. and Y.B; writing ? original draft, D.T. Y.B. S.P. and E.S; writing ? review & editing, all authors. D.T. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank. E.S. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank and is a member of the scientific advisory board of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH. F.H.B. is executive partner of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH.

Keywords

Methodology in biological sciences
Microbiology
Virology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

PIIS2589004221008762Final published version, 3.2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Todt, D., Meister, T. L., Tamele, B., Howes, J., Paulmann, D., Becker, B., Brill, F. H., Wind, M., Schijven, J., Heinen, N., Kinast, V., Mhlekude, B., Goffinet, C., Krawczyk, A., Steinmann, J., Pfaender, S., Brüggemann, Y., & Steinmann, E. (2021). A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes. iScience, 24(8), 1-16. Article 102908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908

@article{0e1108d501254cb8b2f7e311a4932b3f,

title = "A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes",

abstract = "The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a significant threat to global health. While respiratory aerosols or droplets are considered as the main route of human-to-human transmission, secretions expelled by infected individuals can also contaminate surfaces and objects, potentially creating the risk of fomite-based transmission. Consequently, frequently touched objects such as paper currency and coins have been suspected as potential transmission vehicle. To assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by banknotes and coins, we examined the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and bovine coronavirus, as surrogate with lower biosafety restrictions, on these different means of payment and developed a touch transfer method to examine transfer efficiency from contaminated surfaces to fingertips. Although we observed prolonged virus stability, our results indicate that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via contaminated coins and banknotes is unlikely and requires high viral loads and a timely order of specific events.",

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author = "Daniel Todt and Meister, \{Toni Luise\} and Barbora Tamele and John Howes and Dajana Paulmann and Britta Becker and Brill, \{Florian H.\} and Mark Wind and Jack Schijven and Natalie Heinen and Volker Kinast and Baxolele Mhlekude and Christine Goffinet and Adalbert Krawczyk and J{\"o}rg Steinmann and Stephanie Pfaender and Yannick Br{\"u}ggemann and Eike Steinmann",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charit{\'e} Universit{\"a}tsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and Ren{\'e} Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular \& Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank . Funding Information: We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charit? Universit?tsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and Ren? Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular \& Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank. Conceptualization, D.T. B.T. J.H. F.H.B. J.S.T. S.P. E.S; data curation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. M.W. J.S; formal analysis, D.T. and J.S; funding acquisition, B.T. J.H. and E.S; investigation, T.L.M. D.P. B.B. N.H. V.K. and B.M.; methodology, D.T. F.H.B. S.P. and E.S; project administration, B.T, J.H. F.H.B. and E.S; resources, F.H.B. B.M. C.G. A.K. J.S.T. S.P. and E.S. validation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. F.H.B. M.W. J.S. and E.S; visualization, D.T. and Y.B; writing ? original draft, D.T. Y.B. S.P. and E.S; writing ? review \& editing, all authors. D.T. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank. E.S. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank and is a member of the scientific advisory board of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH. F.H.B. is executive partner of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s)",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908",

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Todt, D, Meister, TL, Tamele, B, Howes, J, Paulmann, D, Becker, B, Brill, FH, Wind, M, Schijven, J, Heinen, N, Kinast, V, Mhlekude, B, Goffinet, C, Krawczyk, A, Steinmann, J, Pfaender, S, Brüggemann, Y & Steinmann, E 2021, 'A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes', iScience, vol. 24, no. 8, 102908, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908

TY - JOUR

T1 - A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes

AU - Todt, Daniel

AU - Meister, Toni Luise

AU - Tamele, Barbora

AU - Howes, John

AU - Paulmann, Dajana

AU - Becker, Britta

AU - Brill, Florian H.

AU - Wind, Mark

AU - Schijven, Jack

AU - Heinen, Natalie

AU - Kinast, Volker

AU - Mhlekude, Baxolele

AU - Goffinet, Christine

AU - Krawczyk, Adalbert

AU - Steinmann, Jörg

AU - Pfaender, Stephanie

AU - Brüggemann, Yannick

AU - Steinmann, Eike

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and René Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank . Funding Information: We thank Victor M Corman and Terry C Jones from Charit? Universit?tsmedizin Berlin, Germany for sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in this study. We thank Thorsten Wolff, Jessica Schulz, and Christian Mache from the Robert-Koch Institute (Fachbereich 17) for providing the B.1.1.7 isolate (alpha variant) and Ren? Scholtysik of University Hospital Essen for establishing the PCR for virus variant determination. Moreover, we would like to thank all members of the Department of Molecular & Medical Virology at the Ruhr University Bochum for support and fruitful discussion. E.S. was supported by the VIRus ALliance NRW (VIRAL) from Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (323-8.03-151826) This study was in parts financed by the European Central Bank. Conceptualization, D.T. B.T. J.H. F.H.B. J.S.T. S.P. E.S; data curation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. M.W. J.S; formal analysis, D.T. and J.S; funding acquisition, B.T. J.H. and E.S; investigation, T.L.M. D.P. B.B. N.H. V.K. and B.M.; methodology, D.T. F.H.B. S.P. and E.S; project administration, B.T, J.H. F.H.B. and E.S; resources, F.H.B. B.M. C.G. A.K. J.S.T. S.P. and E.S. validation, D.T. T.L.M. D.P. B.B. F.H.B. M.W. J.S. and E.S; visualization, D.T. and Y.B; writing ? original draft, D.T. Y.B. S.P. and E.S; writing ? review & editing, all authors. D.T. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank. E.S. receives consulting fees from the European Central Bank and is a member of the scientific advisory board of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH. F.H.B. is executive partner of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

PY - 2021/8/20

Y1 - 2021/8/20

N2 - The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a significant threat to global health. While respiratory aerosols or droplets are considered as the main route of human-to-human transmission, secretions expelled by infected individuals can also contaminate surfaces and objects, potentially creating the risk of fomite-based transmission. Consequently, frequently touched objects such as paper currency and coins have been suspected as potential transmission vehicle. To assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by banknotes and coins, we examined the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and bovine coronavirus, as surrogate with lower biosafety restrictions, on these different means of payment and developed a touch transfer method to examine transfer efficiency from contaminated surfaces to fingertips. Although we observed prolonged virus stability, our results indicate that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via contaminated coins and banknotes is unlikely and requires high viral loads and a timely order of specific events.

AB - The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a significant threat to global health. While respiratory aerosols or droplets are considered as the main route of human-to-human transmission, secretions expelled by infected individuals can also contaminate surfaces and objects, potentially creating the risk of fomite-based transmission. Consequently, frequently touched objects such as paper currency and coins have been suspected as potential transmission vehicle. To assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by banknotes and coins, we examined the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and bovine coronavirus, as surrogate with lower biosafety restrictions, on these different means of payment and developed a touch transfer method to examine transfer efficiency from contaminated surfaces to fingertips. Although we observed prolonged virus stability, our results indicate that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via contaminated coins and banknotes is unlikely and requires high viral loads and a timely order of specific events.

KW - Methodology in biological sciences

KW - Microbiology

KW - Virology

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85112666333

U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908

DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102908

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85112666333

SN - 2589-0042

VL - 24

SP - 1

EP - 16

JO - iScience

JF - iScience

IS - 8

M1 - 102908

ER -

A realistic transfer method reveals low risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated euro coins and banknotes

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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