In light of these results, the microwave oven irradiation and bleach decontamination methods investigated in this study were determined to be the least desirable among the five methods tested for consideration in future studies. UVGI, EtO, and VHP were found to be the most promising decontamination methods; however, concerns remain about the throughput capabilities for EtO and VHP. Further research is needed before any specific decontamination methods can be recommended.  Antiviral Activity of Some Plants Used in Nepalese Traditional Medicine Methanolic extracts of 41 plant species belonging to 27 families used in the traditional medicine in Nepal have been investigated for in vitro antiviral activity against Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and influenza virus A by dye uptake assay in the systems HSV-1/Vero cells and influenza virus A/MDCK cells. The extracts of Astilbe rivularis, Bergenia ciliata, Cassiope fastigiata and Thymus linearis showed potent anti-herpes viral activity. The extracts of Allium oreoprasum, Androsace strigilosa, Asparagus filicinus, Astilbe rivularis, Bergenia ciliata and Verbascum thapsus exhibited strong anti-influenza viral activity. Only the extracts of A. rivularis and B. ciliata demonstrated remarkable activity against both viruses. Plants have long been used as a source of medicine from ancient time to today all over the world. In developing countries the availability of modern medicines is limited. So traditional medicine is still the mainstay of health care and most drugs come from plants. Although many plants have long been recognized and widely used in Nepalese traditional medicine, some are relatively unexplored and not arrived to mainstream medicine (1) . Therefore, the search on new drugs must be continued and natural products from plants, microorganisms, fungi and animals can be the source of innovative and powerful therapeutic agents for newer, safer and affordable medicines (2, 3) . On the other hand the screening of plants as a possible source of antiviral drugs has led to the discovery of potent inhibitors of in vitro viral growth (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) .