The importance of hand hygiene in battling rugose

"Studies on the spread of tobamoviruses underline the importance of hand hygiene," says Jens Ehlers with Menno Chemie. "In experiments, the likelihood of an infection from contaminated hands was significantly higher than an infection from contaminated cutting tools, contaminated soil or seed." The company has developed a hand cleaner with the aim to explicitly not inactivate viruses such as ToBRFV on the hand but to clean off infected plant sap.

The Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) pandemic is currently the biggest threat to global tomato production. The virus has now been officially detected in nearly 40 countries, causing severe losses.

In numerous studies and field reports of outbreaks of ToBRFV, or the related Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV), it is shown that humans, in particular, are responsible for the spread of the viruses in the crops. "Superspreaders", say Jens. "One main mode of transmission of ToBRFV and CGMMV are especially the hands, which are constantly in contact with potentially infected plants."

Within this context, it must be clarified how contaminated hands can be quickly and safely cleansed of ToBRFV and CGMMV while avoiding any damage to the natural skin barrier.

"Previous studies on the spread of tobamoviruses such as ToBRFV or CGMMV underline the importance of hand hygiene. In experiments, the likelihood of an infection from contaminated hands was significantly higher than an infection from contaminated cutting tools, contaminated soil, or seeds. In addition, the hands or gloves are often contaminated with large amounts of plant sap, limiting the efficacy of a hand disinfectant", he shows (Fig. 1). "Alcohol-based disinfectants known from hospital hygiene are not effective against ToBRFV or CGMMV."

Figure 1: hands contaminated with plant sap, Figure 2: removing the sap. Figure 3: wiping the dissolved plant sap into a paper towel. Figure 4: cleaned hands.

With its newly formulated and patented ready-to-use hand cleaner, FADEX® Rapid, MENNO Chemie is taking a new approach to hand hygiene. Here, the aim is explicitly not to inactivate viruses such as ToBRFV on the hand but to clean off infected plant sap.

"By removing the sap, the viruses contained in the plant sap are also removed from the hand, so that no aggressive substances are required to inactivate the viruses," Jens says (Fig. 2). "After the application into the hands, the product and the dissolved plant sap is wiped into a paper towel (Fig. 3). Once the hands have been cleaned, they do not pose a risk of spreading plant pathogens (Fig. 4)."

He adds Fadex Rapid also offers great versatility. "It can be used for both hand and gloves. In addition, the hand cleaner can be used in hygiene sluices as a soap with subsequent washing of the hands, or it can be applied to the hands without water while working in the crop."

"By wiping the hands with a paper towel, you, as the person in charge, have a tool that allows you to visually check the accuracy and frequency of the cleaning measures carried out by your employees, making it easier to implement hygiene measures in your company."

"With a well-working hand hygiene routine, you have an additional part of your on-farm hygiene concept," Jens concludes. The company will be present at the German pavilion at stand 2-C120H at the Growtech Antalya to share more about their solutions for cleaning and disinfection of greenhouses, irrigation systems, machines, clothing, hands, or shoes.