Selected persistences of microbial pathogens on dry surfaces.
| Type of bacterium | Duration of persistence (range) |
| Clostridium difficile (spores) | 5 months |
| Corynebacterium diphtheriae | 7 days to 6 months |
| Escherichia coli | 1.5 hours to 16 months |
| Haemophilus influenzae | 12 days |
| Klebsiella spp. | 2 hours to more than 30 months |
| Listeria spp. | 1 day to 4 months |
| Mycobacterium tuberculosis | 1 day to 4 months |
| Neisseria gonorrhoeae | 1 to 3 days |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 6 hours to 16 months; on dry floor: 5 weeks |
| Salmonella typhi | 6 hours to 4 weeks |
| Salmonella typhimurium | 10 days to 4.2 years |
| Shigella spp. | 2 days to 5 months |
| Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strands |
7 days to 7 months |
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | 1 to 20 days |
| Streptococcus pyogenes | 3 days to 6.5 months |
| Vibrio cholerae | 1 to 7 days |
| Type of virus | Duration of persistence (range) |
| Adenovirus | 7 days to 3 months |
| Coronavirus | 3 hours |
| Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) | 72 to 96 hours |
| Coxsackie virus | greater than 2 weeks |
| Cytomegalovirus Echovirus | 8 hours |
| Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) | more than 1 week |
| Herpes simplex virus, type 1 and 2 | 4.5 hours to 8 weeks |
| Influenza virus | 1 to 2 days |
| Norovirus and feline calicivirus (FCV) | 8 hours to 7 days |
| Papillomavirus | 16 more than 7 days |
| Parvovirus | more than 1 year |
| Poliovirus type 1 | 4 hours to less than 8 days |
| Poliovirus type 2 | 1 day to 8 weeks |
| Pseudorabies virus | greater than or equal to 7 days |
| Respiratory syncytial virus | up to 6 hours |
| Rhinovirus | 2 hours to 7 days |
| Rotavirus | 6 to 60 days |
| Vaccinia virus | 3 weeks to more than 20 weeks |