Mequon company touts solution to coronavirus, 'available right in Milwaukee's backyard'

MEQUON -- Leaders of Altapure in Mequon believe they have the solution to stopping the coronavirus in its tracks -- a device that does more than blow smoke.

It's called Altapure, and it sends a dry fog through any room, covering it in disinfectant.

Company owners noted demand from hospitals and other businesses through the roof since coronavirus started to spread.

Carolina Kochelek

"Technology that is able to consistently eliminate this pathogen and others from a room is available right in Milwaukee's backyard," said Carolina Kochelek with Altapure.

Founded in 2003, Kochelek said Tuesday, March 3 the company has been in high demand since the end of January, with the coronavirus spreading across the globe.

"If a surface isn't well cleaned, then that organism is going to be on there for the next, up to nine days," said Kochelek. "That can be potentially picked up by another patient."

Cue the fog.

Altapure officials claim a mixture of common household products can eliminate mold, spores, and viruses -- with clients like Cancer Treatment Centers of America and Northwestern Medicine.

A timelapse in the video above shows how the disinfectant crawls through a hospital room in 45 minutes.

"That room is then completely free of any pathogenic bioburden that can be a danger to patients and health care workers," said Kochelek.

Altapure officials said coronavirus fears sparked calls from Taiwan, Vietnam, Ireland, and New Zealand -- leading the company to send a fleet of 40 units into the field to combat and control the coronavirus.

"We have yet to run into an organism that we can't completely eliminate," said Kochelek.

Officials said of the company's 20 clients in the U.S., the closest to the Milwaukee area in Chicago. Company leaders said Altapure is regulated by the EPA.