Can the Swine Flu virus live on a dollar bill?

Answer 1

Viruses, like the Swine Flu Virus, are not really "alive", but in order for them to replicate, they need a compatible host (such as a person or animal like a pig) or other environmental conditions that enable them to not dry up or run out of fuel. Most viruses last about two hours on a non-animate surface, mostly depending on the humidity or other sources of moisture.

Since dollars are paper and fabric, they could hold some additional moisture, so they may remain dormant but viable on that surface a little longer than if they were on a metal doorknob, for instance. Money is a known location for microbes, including bacteria and viruses, to collect and even reproduce, so any time you handle money, it is wise to wash your hands as soon as possible after wards.

One of the often unknown methods of disease transmission is money handling by customers and servers in restaurants. Carrying waterless hand sanitizer with you to use in those circumstances before putting your hands to your mouth again, is a good practice. Responsible restaurants disallow servers from handling money and assign that responsibility to a different worker to avoid contamination to your food and utensils. For more information about common methods of microbe transmission and methods to avoid them, see the related question below.

Answer 2

Yes,

any hard surfaces, including coins, can have viable viruses on them for up to two hours, or slightly more, depending on the humidity and other factors (such as the presence of other materials on the coins like mucus, etc.).

Although different time frames are found referenced about the length of time viruses can remain viable on surfaces outside a living host, for most environments it is often quoted that they can "live" for 24 to 48 hours on nonporous environmental surfaces and less than 12 hours on porous surfaces before becoming inert.

Other studies indicate that paper money can be even more hospitable to viruses, under the right circumstances, so that the microbes can "live" for over two weeks. Tests have been done that show that when viruses are held in mucus from a sneeze or someone "picking" their nose, etc., the virus can be infective to other people for much longer periods than previously expected. Other similar porous surfaces could be methods of transmission of the viruses, such as swine flu H1N1 virus, if the same circumstances are in place.

Therefore, it is very important to clean hands before and after handling money. This is easily done if you carry waterless hand sanitizer or sanitizer wipes with you.

For more information about the studies on paper money, see the related links section below for a link to the NY Times article outlining several studies done on the topic.

See the related question below for information on proper hand washing techniques.