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Sherchan SP, Shahin S, Patel J, Ward LM, Tandukar S, Uprety S, Schmitz BW, Ahmed W, Simpson S, Gyawali P. Occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Six Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants at the Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic in The United States. Pathogens 2021; 10:798. [PMID: 34201687 PMCID: PMC8308538 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10070798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the occurrence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in primary influent (n = 42), secondary effluent (n = 24) and tertiary treated effluent (n = 34) collected from six wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs A-F) in Virginia (WWTP A), Florida (WWTPs B, C, and D), and Georgia (WWTPs E and F) in the United States during April-July 2020. Of the 100 wastewater samples analyzed, eight (19%) untreated wastewater samples collected from the primary influents contained SARS-CoV-2 RNA as measured by reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays. SARS-CoV-2 RNA were detected in influent wastewater samples collected from WWTP A (Virginia), WWTPs E and F (Georgia) and WWTP D (Florida). Secondary and tertiary effluent samples were not positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA indicating the treatment processes in these WWTPs potentially removed SARS-CoV-2 RNA during the secondary and tertiary treatment processes. However, further studies are needed to understand the log removal values (LRVs) and transmission risks of SARS-CoV-2 RNA through analyzing wastewater samples from a wider range of WWTPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samendra P. Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2100, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (S.S.); (J.P.); (L.M.W.)
| | - Shalina Shahin
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2100, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (S.S.); (J.P.); (L.M.W.)
| | - Jeenal Patel
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2100, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (S.S.); (J.P.); (L.M.W.)
| | - Lauren M. Ward
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2100, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; (S.S.); (J.P.); (L.M.W.)
| | - Sarmila Tandukar
- Policy Research Institute, Sano Gaucharan, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal; or
| | - Sital Uprety
- Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, Dübendorf, 8600 Zürich, Switzerland;
| | - Bradley W. Schmitz
- Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture (YCEDA), University of Arizona, 6425 W. 8th St., Yuma, AZ 85364, USA;
| | - Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD 4102, Australia;
| | - Stuart Simpson
- CSIRO Land and Water, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia;
| | - Pradip Gyawali
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd., Porirua 5240, New Zealand;
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202
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Giacobbo A, Rodrigues MAS, Zoppas Ferreira J, Bernardes AM, de Pinho MN. A critical review on SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in water and wastewater. What do we know? THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 774:145721. [PMID: 33610994 PMCID: PMC7870439 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak circulating the world is far from being controlled, and possible contamination routes are still being studied. There are no confirmed cases yet, but little is known about the infection possibility via contact with sewage or contaminated water as well as with aerosols generated during the pumping and treatment of these aqueous matrices. Therefore, this article presents a literature review on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in human excreta and its pathways through the sewer system and wastewater treatment plants until it reaches the water bodies, highlighting their occurrence and infectivity in sewage and natural water. Research lines are still indicated, which we believe are important for improving the detection, quantification, and mainly the infectivity analyzes of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses in sewage and natural water. In fact, up till now, no case of transmission via contact with sewage or contaminated water has been reported and the few studies conducted with these aqueous matrices have not detected infectious viruses. On the other hand, studies are showing that SARS-CoV-2 can remain viable, i.e., infectious, for up to 4.3 and 6 days in sewage and water, respectively, and that other species of coronavirus may remain viable in these aqueous matrices for more than one year, depending on the sample conditions. These are strong pieces of evidence that the contamination mediated by contact with sewage or contaminated water cannot be ruled out, even because other more resistant and infectious mutations of SARS-CoV-2 may appear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Giacobbo
- Post-Graduation Program in Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (PPGE3M), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, n. 9500, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, RS 91509-900, Brazil; Center of Physics and Engineering of Advanced Materials (CeFEMA), Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, n. 1, Lisbon 1049-001, Portugal.
| | - Marco Antônio Siqueira Rodrigues
- Post-Graduation Program in Materials Technology and Industrial Processes, Pure Sciences and Technology Institute, Feevale University, Rodovia RS-239, n. 2755, Vila Nova, Novo Hamburgo, RS 93525-075, Brazil.
| | - Jane Zoppas Ferreira
- Post-Graduation Program in Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (PPGE3M), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, n. 9500, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, RS 91509-900, Brazil.
| | - Andréa Moura Bernardes
- Post-Graduation Program in Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (PPGE3M), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, n. 9500, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, RS 91509-900, Brazil.
| | - Maria Norberta de Pinho
- Center of Physics and Engineering of Advanced Materials (CeFEMA), Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, n. 1, Lisbon 1049-001, Portugal; Chemical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, n. 1, Lisbon 1049-001, Portugal.
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203
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Wurtzer S, Waldman P, Ferrier-Rembert A, Frenois-Veyrat G, Mouchel JM, Boni M, Maday Y, Marechal V, Moulin L. Several forms of SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in wastewaters: Implication for wastewater-based epidemiology and risk assessment. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 198:117183. [PMID: 33962244 DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.19.20248508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been a public health emergency of international concern. Although SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be mainly transmitted by inhalation of contaminated droplets and aerosols, SARS-CoV-2 is also detected in human feces and to a less extent in urine, and in raw wastewaters (to date viral RNA only) suggesting that other routes of infection may exist. Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 genomes in wastewaters has been proposed as a complementary approach for tracing the dynamics of virus transmission within human population connected to wastewater network. The understanding on SARS-CoV-2 transmission through wastewater surveillance, the development of epidemic modeling and the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from contaminated wastewater are largely limited by our knowledge on viral RNA genome persistence and virus infectivity preservation in such an environment. Using an integrity based RT-qPCR assay this study led to the discovery that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can persist under several forms in wastewaters, which provides important information on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in raw wastewaters and associated risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Wurtzer
- Eau de Paris, R&D and Water quality department, 33 avenue Jean Jaurès, F-94200 Ivry sur Seine, France.
| | - P Waldman
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, UMR 7619 Metis, e-LTER Zone Atelier Seine, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - A Ferrier-Rembert
- Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Microbiology & Infectious diseases, Virology unit, 1 place Valérie André, F-91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - G Frenois-Veyrat
- Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Microbiology & Infectious diseases, Virology unit, 1 place Valérie André, F-91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - J M Mouchel
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, UMR 7619 Metis, e-LTER Zone Atelier Seine, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - M Boni
- Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Microbiology & Infectious diseases, Virology unit, 1 place Valérie André, F-91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Y Maday
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université de Paris, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions (LJLL), F-75005 Paris, France
| | - V Marechal
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine, F-75012, Paris, France
| | - L Moulin
- Eau de Paris, R&D and Water quality department, 33 avenue Jean Jaurès, F-94200 Ivry sur Seine, France
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204
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Wurtzer S, Waldman P, Ferrier-Rembert A, Frenois-Veyrat G, Mouchel JM, Boni M, Maday Y, Marechal V, Moulin L. Several forms of SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in wastewaters: Implication for wastewater-based epidemiology and risk assessment. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 198:117183. [PMID: 33962244 PMCID: PMC8060898 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been a public health emergency of international concern. Although SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be mainly transmitted by inhalation of contaminated droplets and aerosols, SARS-CoV-2 is also detected in human feces and to a less extent in urine, and in raw wastewaters (to date viral RNA only) suggesting that other routes of infection may exist. Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 genomes in wastewaters has been proposed as a complementary approach for tracing the dynamics of virus transmission within human population connected to wastewater network. The understanding on SARS-CoV-2 transmission through wastewater surveillance, the development of epidemic modeling and the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from contaminated wastewater are largely limited by our knowledge on viral RNA genome persistence and virus infectivity preservation in such an environment. Using an integrity based RT-qPCR assay this study led to the discovery that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can persist under several forms in wastewaters, which provides important information on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in raw wastewaters and associated risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Wurtzer
- Eau de Paris, R&D and Water quality department, 33 avenue Jean Jaurès, F-94200 Ivry sur Seine, France.
| | - P Waldman
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, UMR 7619 Metis, e-LTER Zone Atelier Seine, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - A Ferrier-Rembert
- Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Microbiology & Infectious diseases, Virology unit, 1 place Valérie André, F-91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - G Frenois-Veyrat
- Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Microbiology & Infectious diseases, Virology unit, 1 place Valérie André, F-91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - J M Mouchel
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, UMR 7619 Metis, e-LTER Zone Atelier Seine, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - M Boni
- Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, Microbiology & Infectious diseases, Virology unit, 1 place Valérie André, F-91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - Y Maday
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Université de Paris, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions (LJLL), F-75005 Paris, France
| | - V Marechal
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Centre de Recherche Saint-Antoine, F-75012, Paris, France
| | - L Moulin
- Eau de Paris, R&D and Water quality department, 33 avenue Jean Jaurès, F-94200 Ivry sur Seine, France
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205
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Tan Q, He L, Meng X, Wang W, Pan H, Yin W, Zhu T, Huang X, Shan H. Macrophage biomimetic nanocarriers for anti-inflammation and targeted antiviral treatment in COVID-19. J Nanobiotechnology 2021; 19:173. [PMID: 34112203 PMCID: PMC8190731 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-021-00926-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 remains a serious public health menace as the lack of efficacious treatments. Cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) characterized with elevated inflammation and multi-organs failure is closely correlated with the bad outcome of COVID-19. Hence, inhibit the process of CSS by controlling excessive inflammation is considered one of the most promising ways for COVID-19 treatment. RESULTS Here, we developed a biomimetic nanocarrier based drug delivery system against COVID-19 via anti-inflammation and antiviral treatment simultaneously. Firstly, lopinavir (LPV) as model antiviral drug was loaded in the polymeric nanoparticles (PLGA-LPV NPs). Afterwards, macrophage membranes were coated on the PLGA-LPV NPs to constitute drugs loaded macrophage biomimetic nanocarriers (PLGA-LPV@M). In the study, PLGA-LPV@M could neutralize multiple proinflammatory cytokines and effectively suppress the activation of macrophages and neutrophils. Furthermore, the formation of NETs induced by COVID-19 patients serum could be reduced by PLGA-LPV@M as well. In a mouse model of coronavirus infection, PLGA-LPV@M exhibited significant targeted ability to inflammation sites, and superior therapeutic efficacy in inflammation alleviation and tissues viral loads reduction. CONCLUSION Collectively, such macrophage biomimetic nanocarriers based drug delivery system showed favorable anti-inflammation and targeted antiviral effects, which may possess a comprehensive therapeutic value in COVID-19 treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingqin Tan
- Center for Infection and Immunity, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China.,Key Laboratory of Tropical Diseases Control, Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Lingjie He
- Center for Infection and Immunity, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China.,Key Laboratory of Tropical Diseases Control, Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaojun Meng
- Department of Endocrinology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Center for Infection and Immunity, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China
| | - Hudan Pan
- Dr. Neher's Biophysics Laboratory for Innovative Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, 999078, China
| | - Weiguo Yin
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Qingyuan People's Hospital, Qingyuan, 511518, Guangdong, China
| | - Tianchuan Zhu
- Center for Infection and Immunity, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China
| | - Xi Huang
- Center for Infection and Immunity, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China. .,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China. .,Key Laboratory of Tropical Diseases Control, Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China. .,The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Qingyuan People's Hospital, Qingyuan, 511518, Guangdong, China.
| | - Hong Shan
- Center for Infection and Immunity, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, Guangdong, China.
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206
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Le TS, He S, Takahashi M, Enomoto Y, Matsumura Y, Maenosono S. Enhancing the Sensitivity of Lateral Flow Immunoassay by Magnetic Enrichment Using Multifunctional Nanocomposite Probes. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:6566-6577. [PMID: 34008984 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
For lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), it is an important challenge to enhance the detection sensitivity to the same level as polymerase chain reaction or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to make LFIA pervasive in the field of on-site environmental analysis. We recently demonstrated that the LFIA sensitivity is dramatically enhanced by using Pt-nanoparticle-latex nanocomposite beads (Pt-P2VPs) as probes for the detection of the influenza A (H1N1) antigen compared with using conventional Au colloids as probes. Here, to further enhance the LFIA sensitivity using Pt-P2VPs, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were chemically conjugated to Pt-P2VPs (Pt-P2VP@SPION) to give them magnetic separation capability (enrichment and/or purification). To investigate the effect of magnetic enrichment on the LFIA sensitivity in a sandwich format, the C-reactive protein (CRP) was chosen as a model analyte and anti-CRP antibody (CRPAb)-conjugated Pt-P2VP@SPION (Pt-P2VP@SPION-CRPAb) beads were used as probes. The visual limit of detection (LOD) of LFIA was successfully lowered by increasing the magnetic enrichment factor φ. The minimum LOD under the present experimental conditions was 0.08 ng/mL for φ = 40, which is 26-fold lower than that of the standard Au-nanoparticle-based LFIA. In theory, the LOD can be unlimitedly decreased by just increasing φ. However, the times required for both the antigen-antibody binding reaction and magnetic separation dramatically increase with φ. We also propose solutions to overcome this drawback.
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Affiliation(s)
- The Son Le
- School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
| | - Sizun He
- School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
| | - Mari Takahashi
- School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
| | - Yasushi Enomoto
- New Materials Development Center, Research & Development Division, Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co., Ltd., 1-Tsukiji, Kisarazu, Chiba 292-0835, Japan
| | - Yasufumi Matsumura
- New Materials Development Center, Research & Development Division, Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co., Ltd., 1-Tsukiji, Kisarazu, Chiba 292-0835, Japan
| | - Shinya Maenosono
- School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
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207
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Li B, Di DYW, Saingam P, Jeon MK, Yan T. Fine-Scale Temporal Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Abundance in Wastewater during A COVID-19 Lockdown. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 197:117093. [PMID: 33826985 PMCID: PMC8006545 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater is a pooled sampling instrument that may provide rapid and even early disease signals in the surveillance of COVID-19 disease at the community level, yet the fine-scale temporal dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater remains poorly understood. This study tracked the daily dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wastewater from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Honolulu during a rapidly expanding COVID-19 outbreak and a responding four-week lockdown that resulted in a rapid decrease of daily clinical COVID-19 new cases. The wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration from both WWTPs, as measured by three quantification assays (N1, N2, and E), exhibited both significant inter-day fluctuations (101.2-105.1 gene copies or GC/L in wastewater liquid fractions, or 101.4-106.2 GC/g in solid fractions) and an overall downward trend over the lockdown period. Strong and significant correlation was observed in measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations between the solid and liquid wastewater fractions, with the solid fraction containing majority (82.5%-92.5%) of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA mass and the solid-liquid SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration ratios ranging from 103.6 to 104.3 mL/g. The measured wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration was normalized by three endogenous fecal RNA viruses (F+ RNA coliphages Group II and III, and pepper mild mottle virus) to account for variations that may occur during the multi-step wastewater processing and molecular quantification, and the normalized abundance also exhibited similar daily fluctuations and overall downward trend over the sampling period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822
| | - Doris Yoong Wen Di
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822
| | - Prakit Saingam
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822
| | - Min Ki Jeon
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822
| | - Tao Yan
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822.
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208
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Boogaerts T, Jacobs L, De Roeck N, Van den Bogaert S, Aertgeerts B, Lahousse L, van Nuijs ALN, Delputte P. An alternative approach for bioanalytical assay optimization for wastewater-based epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 789:148043. [PMID: 34323818 DOI: 10.1101/2021.02.12.21251626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 could play a role in monitoring the spread of the virus in the population and controlling possible outbreaks. However, sensitive sample preparation and detection methods are necessary to detect trace levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in influent wastewater (IWW). Unlike predecessors, method optimization of a SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration and detection procedure was performed with IWW samples with high viral SARS-CoV-2 RNA loads. This is of importance since the SARS-CoV-2 genome in IWW might have already been subject to in-sewer degradation into smaller genome fragments or might be present in a different form (e.g. cell debris, …). Centricon Plus-70 (100 kDa) centrifugal filter devices resulted in the lowest and most reproducible Ct-values for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Lowering the molecular weight cut-off did not improve our limit of detection and quantification (approximately 100 copies/μL for all genes). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was employed for the amplification of the N1, N2, N3 and E-gene fragments. This is one of the first studies to apply digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in IWW. dPCR showed high variability at low concentration levels (100 copies/μL), indicating that variability in bioanalytical methods for wastewater-based epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 might be substantial. dPCR results in IWW were in line with the results found with qPCR. On average, the N2-gene fragment showed high in-sample stability in IWW for 10 days of storage at 4 °C. Between-sample variability was substantial due to the low native concentrations in IWW. Additionally, the E-gene fragment proved to be less stable compared to the N2-gene fragment and showed higher variability. Freezing the IWW samples resulted in a 10-fold decay of loads of the N2- and E-gene fragment in IWW.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Boogaerts
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
| | - Lotte Jacobs
- Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Naomi De Roeck
- Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Siel Van den Bogaert
- Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Bert Aertgeerts
- Academic Centre for General Practice, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 7, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lies Lahousse
- Department of Bioanalysis, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Peter Delputte
- Laboratory for Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
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209
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Hokajärvi AM, Rytkönen A, Tiwari A, Kauppinen A, Oikarinen S, Lehto KM, Kankaanpää A, Gunnar T, Al-Hello H, Blomqvist S, Miettinen IT, Savolainen-Kopra C, Pitkänen T. The detection and stability of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA biomarkers in wastewater influent in Helsinki, Finland. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 770:145274. [PMID: 33513496 PMCID: PMC7825999 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based surveillance of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is used to monitor the population-level prevalence of the COVID-19 disease. In many cases, due to lockdowns or analytical delays, the analysis of wastewater samples might only be possible after prolonged storage. In this study, the effect of storage conditions on the RNA copy numbers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater influent was studied and compared to the persistence of norovirus over time at 4 °C, -20 °C, and -75 °C using the reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assays E-Sarbeco, N2, and norovirus GII. For the first time in Finland, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was tested in 24 h composite influent wastewater samples collected from Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant, Helsinki, Finland. The detected and quantified SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy numbers of the wastewater sample aliquots taken during 19-20 April 2020 and stored for 29, 64, and 84 days remained surprisingly stable. In the stored samples, the SARS betacoronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 copy numbers, but not the norovirus GII copy numbers, seemed slightly higher when analyzed from the pre-centrifuged pellet-that is, the particulate matter of the influent-as compared with the supernatant (i.e., water fraction) used for ultrafiltration, although the difference was not statistically significant. Furthermore, when wastewater was spiked with SARS-CoV-2, linear decay at 4 °C was observed on the first 28 days, while no decay was visible within 58 days at -20 °C or -75 °C. In conclusion, freezing temperatures should be used for storage when immediate SARS-CoV-2 RNA analysis from the wastewater influent is not possible. Analysis of the particulate matter of the sample, in addition to the water fraction, can improve the detection frequency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Maria Hokajärvi
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Annastiina Rytkönen
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Ananda Tiwari
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Ari Kauppinen
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Sami Oikarinen
- Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere, Finland
| | - Kirsi-Maarit Lehto
- Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere, Finland
| | - Aino Kankaanpää
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Forensic Toxicology Unit, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Teemu Gunnar
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Forensic Toxicology Unit, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Haider Al-Hello
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Soile Blomqvist
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Ilkka T Miettinen
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland
| | | | - Tarja Pitkänen
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland; University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dept. Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Finland.
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210
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Wolfe MK, Archana A, Catoe D, Coffman MM, Dorevich S, Graham KE, Kim S, Grijalva LM, Roldan-Hernandez L, Silverman AI, Sinnott-Armstrong N, Vugia DJ, Yu AT, Zambrana W, Wigginton KR, Boehm AB. Scaling of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Settled Solids from Multiple Wastewater Treatment Plants to Compare Incidence Rates of Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 in Their Sewersheds. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS 2021; 8:398-404. [PMID: 37566351 PMCID: PMC8056949 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Published and unpublished reports show that SARS-CoV-2 RNA in publicly owned treatment work (POTW) wastewater influent and solids is associated with new COVID-19 cases or incidence in associated sewersheds, but methods for comparing data collected from diverse POTWs to infer information about the relative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, and scaling to allow such comparisons, have not been previously established. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 N1 and N2 concentrations in solids normalized by concentrations of PMMoV RNA in solids can be used to compare incidence of laboratory confirmed new COVID-19 cases across POTWs. Using data collected at seven POTWs along the United States West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast serving ∼3% of the U.S. population (9 million people), we show that a 1 log change in N gene/PMMoV is associated with a 0.24 (range 0.19 to 0.29) log10 change in incidence of laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Scaling of N1 and N2 by PMMoV is consistent, conceptually, with a mass balance model relating SARS-CoV-2 RNA to the number of infected individuals shedding virus in their stool. This information should support the application of wastewater-based epidemiology to inform the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and potentially future viral pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene K. Wolfe
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Anand Archana
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - David Catoe
- Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology,
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Mhara M. Coffman
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Samuel Dorevich
- Division of Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois,
Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States
| | - Katherine E. Graham
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Sooyeol Kim
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Lorelay Mendoza Grijalva
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Laura Roldan-Hernandez
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Andrea I. Silverman
- Department of Civil and Urban Engineering, Tandon
School of Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, New York
11201, United States
- School of Global Public Health, New York
University, New York, New York 10003, United
States
| | - Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University
School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, United
States
| | - Duc J. Vugia
- Infectious Diseases Branch, California
Department of Public Health, Richmond, California 94804, United
States
| | - Alexander T. Yu
- Infectious Diseases Branch, California
Department of Public Health, Richmond, California 94804, United
States
| | - Winnie Zambrana
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Krista R. Wigginton
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Michigan,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109,
United States
| | - Alexandria B. Boehm
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
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211
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Ahmed W, Bibby K, D'Aoust PM, Delatolla R, Gerba CP, Haas CN, Hamilton KA, Hewitt J, Julian TR, Kaya D, Monis P, Moulin L, Naughton C, Noble RT, Shrestha A, Tiwari A, Simpson SL, Wurtzer S, Bivins A. Differentiating between the possibility and probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission associated with wastewater: empirical evidence is needed to substantiate risk. FEMS MICROBES 2021; 2:xtab007. [PMID: 38626275 PMCID: PMC8135732 DOI: 10.1093/femsmc/xtab007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Patrick M D'Aoust
- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Robert Delatolla
- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Charles P Gerba
- Department of Environmental Science, Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center, University of Arizona, 2959 W. Calle Agua Nueva, Tucson, AZ 85745, USA
| | | | - Kerry A Hamilton
- School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and the Biodesign Institute Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Joanne Hewitt
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Timothy R Julian
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf CH-8600, Switzerland
| | - Devrim Kaya
- School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, 105 SW 26th St #116, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Paul Monis
- South Australian Water Corporation, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Laurent Moulin
- Eau de Paris R&D Laboratory. 33 Av. Jean Jaures 94200 Ivry/seine, France
| | - Colleen Naughton
- University of California Merced Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5200 N, Lake Rd. Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Rachel T Noble
- University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City, NC, USA
| | - Abhilasha Shrestha
- Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ananda Tiwari
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Expert Microbiology Unit, Kuopio, Finland
| | | | - Sebastien Wurtzer
- Eau de Paris R&D Laboratory. 33 Av. Jean Jaures 94200 Ivry/seine, France
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
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212
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Zhu Y, Oishi W, Maruo C, Saito M, Chen R, Kitajima M, Sano D. Early warning of COVID-19 via wastewater-based epidemiology: potential and bottlenecks. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 767:145124. [PMID: 33548842 PMCID: PMC7825884 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
An effective early warning tool is of great administrative and social significance to the containment and control of an epidemic. Facing the unprecedented global public health crisis caused by COVID-19, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been given high expectations as a promising surveillance complement to clinical testing which had been plagued by limited capacity and turnaround time. In particular, recent studies have highlighted the role WBE may play in being a part of the early warning system. In this study, we briefly discussed the basics of the concept, the benefits and critical points of such an application, the challenges faced by the scientific community, the progress made so far, and what awaits to be addressed by future studies to make the concept work. We identified that the shedding dynamics of infected individuals, especially in the form of a mathematical shedding model, and the back-calculation of the number of active shedders from observed viral load are the major bottlenecks of WBE application in the COVID-19 pandemic that deserve more attention, and the sampling strategy (location, timing, and interval) needs to be optimized to fit the purpose and scope of the WBE project.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Zhu
- Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Wakana Oishi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Chikako Maruo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan
| | - Mayuko Saito
- Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-Machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan
| | - Rong Chen
- Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'a University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North-13 West-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Daisuke Sano
- Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
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213
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de Oliveira LC, Torres-Franco AF, Lopes BC, Santos BSÁDS, Costa EA, Costa MS, Reis MTP, Melo MC, Polizzi RB, Teixeira MM, Mota CR. Viability of SARS-CoV-2 in river water and wastewater at different temperatures and solids content. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 195:117002. [PMID: 33714910 PMCID: PMC7927590 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
COVID-19 patients can excrete viable SARS-CoV-2 virus via urine and faeces, which has raised concerns over the possibility of COVID-19 transmission via aerosolized contaminated water or via the faecal-oral route. These concerns are especially exacerbated in many low- and middle-income countries, where untreated sewage is frequently discharged to surface waters. SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected in river water (RW) and raw wastewater (WW) samples. However, little is known about SARS-CoV-2 viability in these environmental matrices. Determining the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water under different environmental conditions is of great importance for basic assumptions in quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). In this study, the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 was assessed using plaque assays following spiking of RW and WW samples with infectious SARS-CoV-2 that was previously isolated from a COVID-19 patient. These assays were carried out on autoclaved RW and WW samples, filtered (0.22 µm) and unfiltered, at 4 °C and 24 °C. Linear and nonlinear regression models were adjusted to the data. The Weibull regression model achieved the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) and was hence chosen to estimate T90 and T99 (time required for 1 log and 2 log reductions, respectively). SARS-CoV-2 remained viable longer in filtered compared with unfiltered samples. RW and WW showed T90 values of 1.9 and 1.2 day and T99 values of 6.4 and 4.0 days, respectively. When samples were filtered through 0.22 µm pore size membranes, T90 values increased to 3.3 and 1.5 days, and T99 increased to 8.5 and 4.5 days, for RW and WW samples, respectively. Remarkable increases in SARS-CoV-2 persistence were observed in assays at 4 °C, which showed T90 values of 7.7 and 5.5 days, and T99 values of 18.7 and 17.5 days for RW and WW, respectively. These results highlight the variability of SARS-CoV-2 persistence in water and wastewater matrices and can be highly relevant to efforts aimed at quantifying water-related risks, which could be valuable for understanding and controlling the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Camilo de Oliveira
- Biochemistry and Immunology Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Andrés Felipe Torres-Franco
- Deparment of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Bruna Coelho Lopes
- Deparment of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Erica Azevedo Costa
- Veterinary School, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Mauro Martins Teixeira
- Biochemistry and Immunology Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
| | - César Rossas Mota
- Deparment of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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214
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Harris-Lovett S, Nelson KL, Beamer P, Bischel HN, Bivins A, Bruder A, Butler C, Camenisch TD, De Long SK, Karthikeyan S, Larsen DA, Meierdiercks K, Mouser PJ, Pagsuyoin S, Prasek SM, Radniecki TS, Ram JL, Roper DK, Safford H, Sherchan SP, Shuster W, Stalder T, Wheeler RT, Korfmacher KS. Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 on College Campuses: Initial Efforts, Lessons Learned, and Research Needs. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:4455. [PMID: 33922263 PMCID: PMC8122720 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18094455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater surveillance for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging approach to help identify the risk of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. This tool can contribute to public health surveillance at both community (wastewater treatment system) and institutional (e.g., colleges, prisons, and nursing homes) scales. This paper explores the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from initial wastewater surveillance efforts at colleges and university systems to inform future research, development and implementation. We present the experiences of 25 college and university systems in the United States that monitored campus wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 during the fall 2020 academic period. We describe the broad range of approaches, findings, resources, and impacts from these initial efforts. These institutions range in size, social and political geographies, and include both public and private institutions. Our analysis suggests that wastewater monitoring at colleges requires consideration of local information needs, sewage infrastructure, resources for sampling and analysis, college and community dynamics, approaches to interpretation and communication of results, and follow-up actions. Most colleges reported that a learning process of experimentation, evaluation, and adaptation was key to progress. This process requires ongoing collaboration among diverse stakeholders including decision-makers, researchers, faculty, facilities staff, students, and community members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha Harris-Lovett
- Berkeley Water Center, University of California Berkeley, 410 O’Brien Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Kara L. Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Berkeley, MS 1710, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA;
| | - Paloma Beamer
- Department of Community, Environment & Policy, Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, 1295 N Martin Ave., Tucson, AZ 85724, USA;
| | - Heather N. Bischel
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, 3109 Ghausi Hall, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA;
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA;
| | - Andrea Bruder
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Colorado College, 14 E Cache la Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, USA;
| | - Caitlyn Butler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 130 Natural Resources Rd., Amherst, MA 01003, USA;
| | - Todd D. Camenisch
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. John Fisher College, 3690 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14618, USA;
| | - Susan K. De Long
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1301 Campus Delivery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA;
| | - Smruthi Karthikeyan
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, Biomedical Res. Facility 2, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA;
| | - David A. Larsen
- Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, 430C Barclay, Syracuse, New York, NY 13244, USA;
| | - Katherine Meierdiercks
- Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211, USA;
| | - Paula J. Mouser
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire Durham, 35 Colovos Rd., 236 Gregg Hall, Durham, NH 03824, USA;
| | - Sheree Pagsuyoin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA;
| | - Sarah M. Prasek
- Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center, University of Arizona, 2959 W Calle Agua Nueva, Tucson, AZ 85745, USA;
| | - Tyler S. Radniecki
- School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, 116 Johnson Hall, 105 SW 26th St., Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;
| | - Jeffrey L. Ram
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, 540 E. Canfield St., Detroit, MI 48201, USA;
| | - D. Keith Roper
- Department of Biological Engineering, Utah State University, 4105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA;
| | - Hannah Safford
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, 2001 Ghausi Hall, 480 Bainer Hall Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA;
| | - Samendra P. Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health Science, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70112, USA;
| | - William Shuster
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wayne State University, 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive, Detroit, MI 48202, USA;
| | - Thibault Stalder
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr. MS3051, Moscow, ID 83844, USA;
| | - Robert T. Wheeler
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Orono, ME 04473, USA;
| | - Katrina Smith Korfmacher
- Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave., Box EHSC, Rochester, NY 14642, USA;
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215
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Whitney O, Kennedy LC, Fan VB, Hinkle A, Kantor R, Greenwald H, Crits-Christoph A, Al-Shayeb B, Chaplin M, Maurer AC, Tjian R, Nelson KL. Sewage, Salt, Silica, and SARS-CoV-2 (4S): An Economical Kit-Free Method for Direct Capture of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:4880-4888. [PMID: 33759506 PMCID: PMC8009096 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c08129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology is an emerging tool to monitor COVID-19 infection levels by measuring the concentration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater. There remains a need to improve wastewater RNA extraction methods' sensitivity, speed, and reduce reliance on often expensive commercial reagents to make wastewater-based epidemiology more accessible. We present a kit-free wastewater RNA extraction method, titled "Sewage, Salt, Silica and SARS-CoV-2" (4S), that employs the abundant and affordable reagents sodium chloride (NaCl), ethanol, and silica RNA capture matrices to recover sixfold more SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater than an existing ultrafiltration-based method. The 4S method concurrently recovered pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) and human 18S ribosomal subunit rRNA, which have been proposed as fecal concentration controls. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations measured in three sewersheds corresponded to the relative prevalence of COVID-19 infection determined via clinical testing. Lastly, controlled experiments indicate that the 4S method prevented RNA degradation during storage of wastewater samples, was compatible with heat pasteurization, and in our experience, 20 samples can be processed by one lab technician in approximately 2 h. Overall, the 4S method is promising for effective, economical, and accessible wastewater-based epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2, providing another tool to fight the global pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar
N. Whitney
- Department
of Molecular and Cell Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Lauren C. Kennedy
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Vinson B. Fan
- Department
of Molecular and Cell Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Adrian Hinkle
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Rose Kantor
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Hannah Greenwald
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Alexander Crits-Christoph
- Department
of Plant and Microbial Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative
Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Basem Al-Shayeb
- Department
of Plant and Microbial Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative
Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Mira Chaplin
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Anna C. Maurer
- Department
of Molecular and Cell Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Robert Tjian
- Department
of Molecular and Cell Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- The
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University
of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Kara L. Nelson
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative
Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
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216
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Whitney ON, Kennedy LC, Fan VB, Hinkle A, Kantor R, Greenwald H, Crits-Christoph A, Al-Shayeb B, Chaplin M, Maurer AC, Tjian R, Nelson KL. Sewage, Salt, Silica, and SARS-CoV-2 (4S): An Economical Kit-Free Method for Direct Capture of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021. [PMID: 33759506 DOI: 10.17504/protocols.io.biwfkfbn] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology is an emerging tool to monitor COVID-19 infection levels by measuring the concentration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater. There remains a need to improve wastewater RNA extraction methods' sensitivity, speed, and reduce reliance on often expensive commercial reagents to make wastewater-based epidemiology more accessible. We present a kit-free wastewater RNA extraction method, titled "Sewage, Salt, Silica and SARS-CoV-2" (4S), that employs the abundant and affordable reagents sodium chloride (NaCl), ethanol, and silica RNA capture matrices to recover sixfold more SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater than an existing ultrafiltration-based method. The 4S method concurrently recovered pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) and human 18S ribosomal subunit rRNA, which have been proposed as fecal concentration controls. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations measured in three sewersheds corresponded to the relative prevalence of COVID-19 infection determined via clinical testing. Lastly, controlled experiments indicate that the 4S method prevented RNA degradation during storage of wastewater samples, was compatible with heat pasteurization, and in our experience, 20 samples can be processed by one lab technician in approximately 2 h. Overall, the 4S method is promising for effective, economical, and accessible wastewater-based epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2, providing another tool to fight the global pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar N Whitney
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Lauren C Kennedy
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Vinson B Fan
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Adrian Hinkle
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Rose Kantor
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Hannah Greenwald
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Alexander Crits-Christoph
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Basem Al-Shayeb
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Mira Chaplin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Anna C Maurer
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Robert Tjian
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Kara L Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
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Whitney ON, Kennedy LC, Fan VB, Hinkle A, Kantor R, Greenwald H, Crits-Christoph A, Al-Shayeb B, Chaplin M, Maurer AC, Tjian R, Nelson KL. Sewage, Salt, Silica, and SARS-CoV-2 (4S): An Economical Kit-Free Method for Direct Capture of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021. [PMID: 33759506 DOI: 10.17504/protocols.io.biwekfbe] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology is an emerging tool to monitor COVID-19 infection levels by measuring the concentration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater. There remains a need to improve wastewater RNA extraction methods' sensitivity, speed, and reduce reliance on often expensive commercial reagents to make wastewater-based epidemiology more accessible. We present a kit-free wastewater RNA extraction method, titled "Sewage, Salt, Silica and SARS-CoV-2" (4S), that employs the abundant and affordable reagents sodium chloride (NaCl), ethanol, and silica RNA capture matrices to recover sixfold more SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater than an existing ultrafiltration-based method. The 4S method concurrently recovered pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) and human 18S ribosomal subunit rRNA, which have been proposed as fecal concentration controls. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations measured in three sewersheds corresponded to the relative prevalence of COVID-19 infection determined via clinical testing. Lastly, controlled experiments indicate that the 4S method prevented RNA degradation during storage of wastewater samples, was compatible with heat pasteurization, and in our experience, 20 samples can be processed by one lab technician in approximately 2 h. Overall, the 4S method is promising for effective, economical, and accessible wastewater-based epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2, providing another tool to fight the global pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar N Whitney
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Lauren C Kennedy
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Vinson B Fan
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Adrian Hinkle
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Rose Kantor
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Hannah Greenwald
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Alexander Crits-Christoph
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Basem Al-Shayeb
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Mira Chaplin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Anna C Maurer
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
| | - Robert Tjian
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Kara L Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1710, United States
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
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Mohapatra S, Menon NG, Mohapatra G, Pisharody L, Pattnaik A, Menon NG, Bhukya PL, Srivastava M, Singh M, Barman MK, Gin KYH, Mukherji S. The novel SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Possible environmental transmission, detection, persistence and fate during wastewater and water treatment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 765:142746. [PMID: 33092831 PMCID: PMC7536135 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2020] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
The contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for COVID-19 disease, has infected over 27 million people across the globe within a few months. While literature on SARS-CoV-2 indicates that its transmission may occur predominantly via aerosolization of virus-laden droplets, the possibility of alternate routes of transmission and/or reinfection via the environment requires considerable scientific attention. This review aims to collate information on possible transmission routes of this virus, to ascertain its fate in the environment. Concomitant with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in faeces and saliva of infected patients, studies also indicated its occurrence in raw wastewater, primary sludge and river water. Therefore sewerage system could be a possible route of virus outbreak, a possible tool to assess viral community spread and future surveillance technique. Hence, this review looked into detection, occurrence and fate of SARS-CoV-2 during primary, secondary, and tertiary wastewater and water treatment processes based on published literature on SARS-CoV and other enveloped viruses. The review also highlights the need for focused research on occurrence and fate of SARS-CoV-2 in various environmental matrices. Utilization of this information in environmental transmission models developed for other enveloped and enteric viruses can facilitate risk assessment studies. Preliminary research efforts with SARS-CoV-2 and established scientific reports on other coronaviruses indicate that the threat of virus transmission from the aquatic environment may be currently non-existent. However, the presence of viral RNA in wastewater provides an early warning that highlights the need for effective sewage treatment to prevent a future outbreak of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjeeb Mohapatra
- Environmental Science and Engineering Department (ESED), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India; NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore
| | - N Gayathri Menon
- Centre for Research in Nanotechnology and Science (CRNTS), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India; nEcoTox GmbH, An der Neümuhle 2, Annweiler am Trifels, Germany
| | | | - Lakshmi Pisharody
- Environmental Science and Engineering Department (ESED), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
| | - Aryamav Pattnaik
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), USA
| | - N Gowri Menon
- Department of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Wayanad, Kerala, India
| | | | | | | | | | - Karina Yew-Hoong Gin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore.
| | - Suparna Mukherji
- Environmental Science and Engineering Department (ESED), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India; Centre for Research in Nanotechnology and Science (CRNTS), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India.
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219
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Cervantes-Avilés P, Moreno-Andrade I, Carrillo-Reyes J. Approaches applied to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and perspectives post-COVID-19. JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING 2021; 40:101947. [PMID: 35592728 PMCID: PMC7846222 DOI: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.101947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Currently, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in the influent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), pumping stations, manholes, sewer networks and sludge of WWTP and facilities of countries as France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, United States, Australia, Ecuador, Brazil and Japan. Although this virus has been detected in the wastewater streams, there is no robust method for its detection and quantification in wastewater. This review compiled and analyzed the virus concentration approaches applied to detect the SARS-CoV-2, besides to provide insights about the methodology for viral concentration, limit of detection, occurrence, persistence, and perspectives post-COVID-19 related with the implications of the virus presence in wastewater. The SARS-COV-2 detection in wastewater has been related to virus concentration methods, which present different recovery rates of the virus. The most used viral concentration methods have been the polyethylene glycol (PEG) for precipitation of viral material and the ultrafiltration at molecular weight level. After viral concentration, the detection and quantification of SARS-COV-2 in wastewater are mainly via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), which is the clinical assay adapted for environmental purposes. Although in some experiments the positive control during RT-qPCR is running a surrogated virus (e.g., Mengovirus or Dengue virus), RT-qPCR or reverse transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) targeting the gene encoding nucleocapsid (N1, N2 and N3) of SARS-COV-2 are highly recommended to calculate the limit of detection in wastewater samples. Current results suggest that a rigorous methodology to elucidate the positive cases in a region from genomic copies in wastewater is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pabel Cervantes-Avilés
- Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Vía Atlixcáyotl 5718, Reserva Territorial Atlixcáyotl, Puebla, Pue, CP 72453, Mexico
| | - Iván Moreno-Andrade
- Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes for Water Treatment, Instituto de Ingeniería, Unidad Académica Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Queretaro, CP 76230, Mexico
| | - Julián Carrillo-Reyes
- Laboratory for Research on Advanced Processes for Water Treatment, Instituto de Ingeniería, Unidad Académica Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, Queretaro, CP 76230, Mexico
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Hong PY, Rachmadi AT, Mantilla-Calderon D, Alkahtani M, Bashawri YM, Al Qarni H, O'Reilly KM, Zhou J. Estimating the minimum number of SARS-CoV-2 infected cases needed to detect viral RNA in wastewater: To what extent of the outbreak can surveillance of wastewater tell us? ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 195:110748. [PMID: 33465345 DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.19.20177667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing interest in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of SARS-CoV-2 RNA to serve as an early warning system for a community. Despite successful detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewaters sampled from multiple locations, there is still no clear idea on the minimal number of cases in a community that are associated with a positive detection of the virus in wastewater. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled wastewaters from a septic tank (n = 57) and biological activated sludge tank (n = 52) located on-site of a hospital. The hospital is providing treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, with the number of hospitalized patients per day known. It was observed that depending on which nucleocapsid gene is targeted by means of RT-qPCR, a range of 253-409 positive cases out of 10,000 persons are required prior to detecting RNA SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. There was a weak correlation between N1 and N2 gene abundances in wastewater with the number of hospitalized cases. This correlation was however not observed for N3 gene. The frequency of detecting N1 and N2 gene in wastewater was also higher than that for N3 gene. Furthermore, nucleocapsid genes of SARS-CoV-2 were detected at lower frequency in the partially treated wastewater than in the septic tank. In particular, N1 gene abundance was associated with water quality parameters such as total organic carbon and pH. In instances of positive detection, the average abundance of N1 and N3 genes in the activated sludge tank were reduced by 50 and 70% of the levels detected in septic tank, suggesting degradation of the SARS-CoV-2 gene fragments already occurring in the early stages of the wastewater treatment process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Ying Hong
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Andri Taruna Rachmadi
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - David Mantilla-Calderon
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohsen Alkahtani
- Environmental Health Laboratory, Jeddah, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yasir M Bashawri
- General Directorate of Environment Health, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hamed Al Qarni
- General Directorate of Environment Health, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
| | - Kathleen M O'Reilly
- Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health and Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Jianqiang Zhou
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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221
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Tiwari SB, Gahlot P, Tyagi VK, Zhang L, Zhou Y, Kazmi AA, Kumar M. Surveillance of Wastewater for Early Epidemic Prediction (SWEEP): Environmental and health security perspectives in the post COVID-19 Anthropocene. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 195:110831. [PMID: 33587948 PMCID: PMC7879813 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The present work summarizes the major research findings related to wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) study of COVID-19 and puts forward a conceptual framework, termed as "Surveillance of Wastewater for Early Epidemic Prediction (SWEEP)" for implementation of WBE. SWEEP framework is likely to tackle few practical issues related to WBE and simultaneously proposes refinements to the approach for better outcome and efficiency to save precious lives around the globe. It is observed that the present pandemic offers an opportunity for SWEEP to get included in routine urban water management to put the humankind at front to stop such pandemic in future or at least be prepared to fight against it. With global collaboration, SWEEP can be fine-tuned to meet diverse needs, making the present and future generations resilient to future viral outbreaks. Recent WBE studies conducted to check for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater revealed that raw sewage samples tested positive to PCR-based assays while the treated samples showed absence of viral titers. Moreover, the lockdown had a positive impact on decreasing the viral loading in sewage. The proposed SWEEP protocol has an advantage over testifying individuals for predicting the stage of pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satya Brat Tiwari
- Environmental Biotechnology Group (EBiTG), Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India
| | - Pallavi Gahlot
- Environmental Biotechnology Group (EBiTG), Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India
| | - Vinay Kumar Tyagi
- Environmental Biotechnology Group (EBiTG), Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India.
| | - Liang Zhang
- Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
| | - Yan Zhou
- Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
| | - A A Kazmi
- Environmental Biotechnology Group (EBiTG), Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India
| | - Manish Kumar
- Discipline of Earth Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382-355, India
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Hong PY, Rachmadi AT, Mantilla-Calderon D, Alkahtani M, Bashawri YM, Al Qarni H, O'Reilly KM, Zhou J. Estimating the minimum number of SARS-CoV-2 infected cases needed to detect viral RNA in wastewater: To what extent of the outbreak can surveillance of wastewater tell us? ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 195:110748. [PMID: 33465345 PMCID: PMC7831732 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing interest in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of SARS-CoV-2 RNA to serve as an early warning system for a community. Despite successful detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewaters sampled from multiple locations, there is still no clear idea on the minimal number of cases in a community that are associated with a positive detection of the virus in wastewater. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled wastewaters from a septic tank (n = 57) and biological activated sludge tank (n = 52) located on-site of a hospital. The hospital is providing treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, with the number of hospitalized patients per day known. It was observed that depending on which nucleocapsid gene is targeted by means of RT-qPCR, a range of 253-409 positive cases out of 10,000 persons are required prior to detecting RNA SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. There was a weak correlation between N1 and N2 gene abundances in wastewater with the number of hospitalized cases. This correlation was however not observed for N3 gene. The frequency of detecting N1 and N2 gene in wastewater was also higher than that for N3 gene. Furthermore, nucleocapsid genes of SARS-CoV-2 were detected at lower frequency in the partially treated wastewater than in the septic tank. In particular, N1 gene abundance was associated with water quality parameters such as total organic carbon and pH. In instances of positive detection, the average abundance of N1 and N3 genes in the activated sludge tank were reduced by 50 and 70% of the levels detected in septic tank, suggesting degradation of the SARS-CoV-2 gene fragments already occurring in the early stages of the wastewater treatment process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Ying Hong
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Andri Taruna Rachmadi
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - David Mantilla-Calderon
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohsen Alkahtani
- Environmental Health Laboratory, Jeddah, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yasir M Bashawri
- General Directorate of Environment Health, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hamed Al Qarni
- General Directorate of Environment Health, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
| | - Kathleen M O'Reilly
- Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health and Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Jianqiang Zhou
- Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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223
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Tarka P, Nitsch-Osuch A. Evaluating the Virucidal Activity of Disinfectants According to European Union Standards. Viruses 2021; 13:534. [PMID: 33804814 PMCID: PMC8063834 DOI: 10.3390/v13040534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The disinfection of surfaces in medical facilities is an important element of infection control, including the control of viral infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Preparations used for surface disinfection are typically characterized via their activity against test organisms (i.e., viruses, bacteria and fungi) in the laboratory. Typically, these methods use a suspension of the test organism to assess the bactericidal, fungicidal or virucidal activity of a given preparation. However, such suspension methods do not fully imitate real-life conditions. To address this issue, carrier methods have been developed, in which microorganisms are applied to the surface of a carrier (e.g., stainless steel, glass and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)) and then dried. Such methods more accurately reflect the applications in real-life clinical practice. This article summarizes the available methods for assessing the virucidal activity of chemical disinfectants for use in medical facilities based on the current European standards, including the activity against coronaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patryk Tarka
- Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Oczki Street 3, 02-007 Warsaw, Poland;
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224
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Ahmed W, Tscharke B, Bertsch PM, Bibby K, Bivins A, Choi P, Clarke L, Dwyer J, Edson J, Nguyen TMH, O'Brien JW, Simpson SL, Sherman P, Thomas KV, Verhagen R, Zaugg J, Mueller JF. SARS-CoV-2 RNA monitoring in wastewater as a potential early warning system for COVID-19 transmission in the community: A temporal case study. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 761:144216. [PMID: 33360129 PMCID: PMC7718102 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 173] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has spread rapidly across the globe infecting millions of people and causing significant health and economic impacts. Authorities are exploring complimentary approaches to monitor this infectious disease at the community level. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approaches to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in municipal wastewater are being implemented worldwide as an environmental surveillance approach to inform health authority decision-making. Owing to the extended excretion of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool, WBE can surveil large populated areas with a longer detection window providing unique information on the presence of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases that are unlikely to be screened by clinical testing. Herein, we analysed SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 24-h composite wastewater samples (n = 63) from three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 24th of February to 1st of May 2020. A total of 21 samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2, ranging from 135 to 11,992 gene copies (GC)/100 mL of wastewater. Detections were made in a Southern Brisbane WWTP in late February 2020, up to three weeks before the first clininal case was reported there. Wastewater samples were generally positive during the period with highest caseload data. The positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater while there were limited clinical reported cases demonstrates the potential of WBE as an early warning system to identify hotspots and target localised public health responses, such as increased individual testing and the provision of health warnings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Qld 4102, Australia.
| | - Ben Tscharke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Paul M Bertsch
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Qld 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Science, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Science, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Phil Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Leah Clarke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Jason Dwyer
- Urban Utilities, 15 Green Square Close, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Janette Edson
- Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Thi Minh Hong Nguyen
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Jake W O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | | | - Paul Sherman
- Urban Utilities, 15 Green Square Close, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Rory Verhagen
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Julian Zaugg
- Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
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225
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Kantor RS, Nelson KL, Greenwald HD, Kennedy LC. Challenges in Measuring the Recovery of SARS-CoV-2 from Wastewater. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:3514-3519. [PMID: 33656856 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c08210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology is an emerging tool for tracking the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through populations. However, many factors influence recovery and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater, complicating data interpretation. Specifically, these factors may differentially affect the measured virus concentration, depending on the laboratory methods used to perform the test. Many laboratories add a proxy virus to wastewater samples to determine losses associated with concentration and extraction of viral RNA. While measuring recovery of a proxy virus is an important process control, in this piece, we describe the caveats and limitations to the interpretation of this control, including that it typically does not account for losses during RNA extraction. We recommend reporting the directly measured concentration data alongside the measured recovery efficiency, rather than attempting to correct the concentration for recovery efficiency. Even though the ability to directly compare SARS-CoV-2 concentrations from different sampling locations determined using different methods is limited, concentration data (uncorrected for recovery) can be useful for public health response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rose S Kantor
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 663 Davis Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Kara L Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 663 Davis Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Hannah D Greenwald
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 663 Davis Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Lauren C Kennedy
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 663 Davis Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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226
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Hata A, Hara-Yamamura H, Meuchi Y, Imai S, Honda R. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in Japan during a COVID-19 outbreak. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 758:143578. [PMID: 33221007 PMCID: PMC7654358 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Revised: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/31/2020] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater samples has been documented in several countries. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is potentially effective for early warning of a COVID-19 outbreak. In this study, presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater samples was investigated and was compared with the number of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the study area during COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. In total, 45 influent wastewater samples were collected from five wastewater treatment plants in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures in Japan. During the study period, the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in these prefectures increased from 0.3 and 0 to >20 per 100,000 people. SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the samples was detected using several PCR-based assays. Of the 45 samples, 21 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 according to at least one of the three quantitative RT-PCR assays. The detection frequency increased when the number of total confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases in 100,000 people exceeded 10 in each prefecture; however, SARS-CoV-2 could also be detected at a low frequency even when the number was below 1.0. SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater could be detected in the early stage of the epidemic, even if the number of confirmed cases potentially underestimates the actual numbers of cases. This suggests that WBE approach can potentially act as an early warning of COVID-19 outbreaks in Japan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akihiko Hata
- Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Japan
| | | | - Yuno Meuchi
- Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Japan
| | - Shota Imai
- Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Japan
| | - Ryo Honda
- Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Japan; Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Japan.
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227
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Donde OO, Atoni E, Muia AW, Yillia PT. COVID-19 pandemic: Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as a critical control measure remains a major challenge in low-income countries. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 191:116793. [PMID: 33388470 PMCID: PMC7765770 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Revised: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the deadly respiratory disease called coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing global public health emergency that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. We review literature on the transmission and control of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss the challenges of focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as critical control measures in low-income countries. A significantly higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 related deaths has been reported for the United States of America and other high-income countries in Europe and Asia, regardless of advanced medical facilities in those countries. In contrast, much lower COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality rates have been documented in many low-income countries, despite having comparatively higher socioeconomic burdens and suboptimal medical facilities. By September 29, 2020 over one million deaths have been reported. On the same day, the cumulative total of COVID-19 related morbidity for Africa was 35,954 with 3.5% of the global COVID-19 related deaths. We present arguments for the relatively low COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates in many low-income countries and discuss the critical importance of WASH for preventing the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. We observe that the key recommendations put forward by the World Health Organization to effectively control the pandemic have been difficult to implement in low-income countries. We conclude that the pandemic reinforces previous pronouncements that adequate and effective WASH measures are crucial for public health and recommend closer coordination between public health and WASH sectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar Omondi Donde
- Department of Environmental Science, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536, Egerton Kenya.
| | - Evans Atoni
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, Hubei, China
| | | | - Paul T Yillia
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1 - A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
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228
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Dumke R, de la Cruz Barron M, Oertel R, Helm B, Kallies R, Berendonk TU, Dalpke A. Evaluation of Two Methods to Concentrate SARS-CoV-2 from Untreated Wastewater. Pathogens 2021; 10:pathogens10020195. [PMID: 33673032 PMCID: PMC7917696 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens10020195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Use of wastewater-based epidemiology as a tool to record and manage the course of SARS-CoV-2 infections in human populations requires information about the efficiency of methods to concentrate the virus from wastewater. In the present study, we spiked untreated wastewater with quantified SARS-CoV-2 positive clinical material and enriched the virus by polyethylene glycol precipitation and ultrafiltration with Vivaspin 10 kDa MWCO columns. SARS-CoV-2 was detected and quantified by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (E- and S-gene) and droplet digital PCR. The concentration of virus with precipitation resulted in mean recoveries between 59.4% and 63.7% whereas rates from 33.0% to 42.6% after ultrafiltration of samples were demonstrated. The results suggest that the use of both methods allows an effective and practicable enrichment of SARS-CoV-2 from raw wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roger Dumke
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany;
- Correspondence:
| | - Magali de la Cruz Barron
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 10, 01069 Dresden, Germany; (M.d.l.C.B.); (T.U.B.)
- Department of River Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Brückstrasse 3a, 39114 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Reinhard Oertel
- Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany;
| | - Björn Helm
- Institute of Urban and Industrial Water Management, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 10, 01069 Dresden, Germany;
| | - Rene Kallies
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany;
| | - Thomas U. Berendonk
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 10, 01069 Dresden, Germany; (M.d.l.C.B.); (T.U.B.)
| | - Alexander Dalpke
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany;
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229
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Harris-Lovett S, Nelson K, Beamer P, Bischel HN, Bivins A, Bruder A, Butler C, Camenisch TD, De Long SK, Karthikeyan S, Larsen DA, Meierdiercks K, Mouser P, Pagsuyoin S, Prasek S, Radniecki TS, Ram JL, Roper DK, Safford H, Sherchan SP, Shuster W, Stalder T, Wheeler RT, Korfmacher KS. Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 on college campuses: Initial efforts, lessons learned and research needs. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2021:2021.02.01.21250952. [PMID: 33564791 PMCID: PMC7872386 DOI: 10.1101/2021.02.01.21250952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Background Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging approach to help identify the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak. This tool can contribute to public health surveillance at both community (wastewater treatment system) and institutional (e.g., colleges, prisons, nursing homes) scales. Objectives This research aims to understand the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from initial wastewater surveillance efforts at colleges and university systems to inform future research, development and implementation. Methods This paper presents the experiences of 25 college and university systems in the United States that monitored campus wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 during the fall 2020 academic period. We describe the broad range of approaches, findings, resource needs, and lessons learned from these initial efforts. These institutions range in size, social and political geographies, and include both public and private institutions. Discussion Our analysis suggests that wastewater monitoring at colleges requires consideration of information needs, local sewage infrastructure, resources for sampling and analysis, college and community dynamics, approaches to interpretation and communication of results, and follow-up actions. Most colleges reported that a learning process of experimentation, evaluation, and adaptation was key to progress. This process requires ongoing collaboration among diverse stakeholders including decision-makers, researchers, faculty, facilities staff, students, and community members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha Harris-Lovett
- Berkeley Water Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Kara Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Paloma Beamer
- Department of Community, Environment & Policy, Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Heather N Bischel
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
| | - Andrea Bruder
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
| | - Caitlyn Butler
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Todd D Camenisch
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Susan K De Long
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Smruthi Karthikeyan
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | - David A Larsen
- Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Katherine Meierdiercks
- Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Siena College, Loudonville, New York, USA
| | - Paula Mouser
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire Durham, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Sheree Pagsuyoin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sarah Prasek
- Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Tyler S Radniecki
- School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
| | - Jeffrey L Ram
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - D Keith Roper
- Department of Biological Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
| | - Hannah Safford
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Samendra P Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health Science, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - William Shuster
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Thibault Stalder
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA
| | - Robert T Wheeler
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA
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230
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Ahmed W, Bivins A, Bertsch PM, Bibby K, Gyawali P, Sherchan SP, Simpson SL, Thomas KV, Verhagen R, Kitajima M, Mueller JF, Korajkic A. Intraday variability of indicator and pathogenic viruses in 1-h and 24-h composite wastewater samples: Implications for wastewater-based epidemiology. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 193:110531. [PMID: 33249042 PMCID: PMC8267967 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
We monitored the concentration of indicator viruses crAssphage and pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) and human pathogen adenovirus (HAdV) in influent from a wastewater treatment plant in Brisbane, Australia in 1-h and 24-h composite samples. Over three days of sampling, the mean concentration of crAssphage gene copies (GC)/mL in 24-h composite samples did not differ significantly (p = 0.72-0.92), while for PMMoV GC/mL (p value range: 0.0002-0.0321) and HAdV GC/mL (p value range: 0.0028-0.0068) significant differences in concentrations were observed on one day of sampling compared to the other two. For all three viruses, the variation observed in 1-h composite samples was greater than the variation observed in 24-h composite samples. For crAssphage, in 54.1% of 1-h composite samples, the concentration was less than that observed in 24-h composite samples; whereas for PMMoV and HAdV the concentration was less in 79.2 and 70.9% of 1-h composite samples, respectively, compared to the relevant 24-h composite samples. Similarly, the concentration of crAssphage in 1-h compared to 24-h composite samples did not differ (p = 0.1082) while the concentrations of PMMoV (p < 0.0001) and HAdV (p < 0.0001) in 1-h composite samples were significantly different from 24-h composite samples. These results suggest that 24-h composite samples offer increased analytical sensitivity and decreased variability compared to 1-h composite samples when monitoring wastewater, especially for pathogenic viruses with low infection rates within a community. Thus, for wastewater-based epidemiology applications, 24-h composite samples are less likely to produce false negative results and erroneous public health information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD, 4102, Australia.
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
| | - Paul M Bertsch
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
| | - Pradip Gyawali
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Samendra P Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA
| | | | - Kevin V Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4103, Australia
| | - Rory Verhagen
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4103, Australia
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0032, Japan
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4103, Australia
| | - Asja Korajkic
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 26W Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA
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231
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Pecson BM, Darby E, Haas CN, Amha YM, Bartolo M, Danielson R, Dearborn Y, Di Giovanni G, Ferguson C, Fevig S, Gaddis E, Gray D, Lukasik G, Mull B, Olivas L, Olivieri A, Qu Y. Reproducibility and sensitivity of 36 methods to quantify the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal in raw wastewater: findings from an interlaboratory methods evaluation in the U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE : WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 7:504-520. [PMID: 34017594 PMCID: PMC8129921 DOI: 10.1039/d0ew00946f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
In response to COVID-19, the international water community rapidly developed methods to quantify the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal in untreated wastewater. Wastewater surveillance using such methods has the potential to complement clinical testing in assessing community health. This interlaboratory assessment evaluated the reproducibility and sensitivity of 36 standard operating procedures (SOPs), divided into eight method groups based on sample concentration approach and whether solids were removed. Two raw wastewater samples were collected in August 2020, amended with a matrix spike (betacoronavirus OC43), and distributed to 32 laboratories across the U.S. Replicate samples analyzed in accordance with the project's quality assurance plan showed high reproducibility across the 36 SOPs: 80% of the recovery-corrected results fell within a band of ±1.15 log10 genome copies per L with higher reproducibility observed within a single SOP (standard deviation of 0.13 log10). The inclusion of a solids removal step and the selection of a concentration method did not show a clear, systematic impact on the recovery-corrected results. Other methodological variations (e.g., pasteurization, primer set selection, and use of RT-qPCR or RT-dPCR platforms) generally resulted in small differences compared to other sources of variability. These findings suggest that a variety of methods are capable of producing reproducible results, though the same SOP or laboratory should be selected to track SARS-CoV-2 trends at a given facility. The methods showed a 7 log10 range of recovery efficiency and limit of detection highlighting the importance of recovery correction and the need to consider method sensitivity when selecting methods for wastewater surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emily Darby
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Oakland, California, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - George Di Giovanni
- Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | | | | | - Erica Gaddis
- Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Donald Gray
- East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, California, USA
| | | | - Bonnie Mull
- BCS Laboratories Inc., Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Liana Olivas
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Pasadena, California, USA
| | | | - Yan Qu
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Pasadena, California, USA
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232
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Pecson BM, Darby E, Haas CN, Amha YM, Bartolo M, Danielson R, Dearborn Y, Di Giovanni G, Ferguson C, Fevig S, Gaddis E, Gray D, Lukasik G, Mull B, Olivas L, Olivieri A, Qu Y. Reproducibility and sensitivity of 36 methods to quantify the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal in raw wastewater: findings from an interlaboratory methods evaluation in the U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE : WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 7:504-520. [PMID: 34017594 DOI: 10.1101/2020.11.02.20221622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
In response to COVID-19, the international water community rapidly developed methods to quantify the SARS-CoV-2 genetic signal in untreated wastewater. Wastewater surveillance using such methods has the potential to complement clinical testing in assessing community health. This interlaboratory assessment evaluated the reproducibility and sensitivity of 36 standard operating procedures (SOPs), divided into eight method groups based on sample concentration approach and whether solids were removed. Two raw wastewater samples were collected in August 2020, amended with a matrix spike (betacoronavirus OC43), and distributed to 32 laboratories across the U.S. Replicate samples analyzed in accordance with the project's quality assurance plan showed high reproducibility across the 36 SOPs: 80% of the recovery-corrected results fell within a band of ±1.15 log10 genome copies per L with higher reproducibility observed within a single SOP (standard deviation of 0.13 log10). The inclusion of a solids removal step and the selection of a concentration method did not show a clear, systematic impact on the recovery-corrected results. Other methodological variations (e.g., pasteurization, primer set selection, and use of RT-qPCR or RT-dPCR platforms) generally resulted in small differences compared to other sources of variability. These findings suggest that a variety of methods are capable of producing reproducible results, though the same SOP or laboratory should be selected to track SARS-CoV-2 trends at a given facility. The methods showed a 7 log10 range of recovery efficiency and limit of detection highlighting the importance of recovery correction and the need to consider method sensitivity when selecting methods for wastewater surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emily Darby
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Oakland, California, USA
| | | | - Yamrot M Amha
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Pasadena, California, USA
| | | | | | | | - George Di Giovanni
- Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | | | | | - Erica Gaddis
- Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Donald Gray
- East Bay Municipal Utility District, Oakland, California, USA
| | | | - Bonnie Mull
- BCS Laboratories Inc., Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Liana Olivas
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Pasadena, California, USA
| | | | - Yan Qu
- Trussell Technologies Inc., Pasadena, California, USA
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233
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Ni G, Lu J, Maulani N, Tian W, Yang L, Harliwong I, Wang Z, Mueller J, Yang B, Yuan Z, Hu S, Guo J. Novel Multiplexed Amplicon-Based Sequencing to Quantify SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS 2021; 8:683-690. [PMID: 37566375 PMCID: PMC8276671 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The application of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown encouraging outcomes. The accurate, sensitive, and high-throughput detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in municipal wastewater is critical for WBE. Here, we present a novel approach based on multiplexed amplicon-based sequencing, namely the ATOPlex platform, for detecting SARS-CoV-2. The ATOPlex platform is capable of quantifying SARS-CoV-2 RNA at concentrations that are at least 1 order of magnitude lower than the detection limit of reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Robust and accurate phylogenetic placement can be done at viral concentrations 4 times lower than the detection limit of RT-qPCR. We further found that the solid fraction in wastewater harbors a considerable amount of viral RNA, highlighting the need to extract viral RNA from the solid and liquid fractions of wastewater. This study delivers a highly sensitive, phylogenetically informative, and high-throughput analytical workflow that facilitates the application of WBE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaofeng Ni
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
| | - Ji Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
| | - Nova Maulani
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
| | - Wei Tian
- BGI Australia, 300 Herston
Road, Herston, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Lin Yang
- BGI Australia, 300 Herston
Road, Herston, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Ivon Harliwong
- BGI Australia, 300 Herston
Road, Herston, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Zhiyao Wang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
| | - Jochen Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences
(QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street,
Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Bicheng Yang
- BGI Australia, 300 Herston
Road, Herston, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
| | - Shihu Hu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The
University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072,
Australia
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234
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Graham KE, Loeb SK, Wolfe MK, Catoe D, Sinnott-Armstrong N, Kim S, Yamahara KM, Sassoubre LM, Mendoza Grijalva LM, Roldan-Hernandez L, Langenfeld K, Wigginton KR, Boehm AB. SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater Settled Solids Is Associated with COVID-19 Cases in a Large Urban Sewershed. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:488-498. [PMID: 33283515 PMCID: PMC7737534 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c06191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 229] [Impact Index Per Article: 76.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology may be useful for informing public health response to viral diseases like COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. We quantified SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater influent and primary settled solids in two wastewater treatment plants to inform the preanalytical and analytical approaches and to assess whether influent or solids harbored more viral targets. The primary settled solids samples resulted in higher SARS-CoV-2 detection frequencies than the corresponding influent samples. Likewise, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was more readily detected in solids using one-step digital droplet (dd)RT-PCR than with two-step RT-QPCR and two-step ddRT-PCR, likely owing to reduced inhibition with the one-step ddRT-PCR assay. We subsequently analyzed a longitudinal time series of 89 settled solids samples from a single plant for SARS-CoV-2 RNA as well as coronavirus recovery (bovine coronavirus) and fecal strength (pepper mild mottle virus) controls. SARS-CoV-2 RNA targets N1 and N2 concentrations correlated positively and significantly with COVID-19 clinically confirmed case counts in the sewershed. Together, the results demonstrate that measuring SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in settled solids may be a more sensitive approach than measuring SARS-CoV-2 in influent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine E. Graham
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - Stephanie K. Loeb
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - Marlene K. Wolfe
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - David Catoe
- Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology,
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University
School of Medicine, Stanford 94305, California, United
States
- Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and
Resources, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California,
United States
| | - Sooyeol Kim
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - Kevan M. Yamahara
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute, Moss Landing 95039, California, United
States
| | - Lauren M. Sassoubre
- Department of Engineering, University of San
Francisco, San Francisco 94117, California, United
States
| | - Lorelay M. Mendoza Grijalva
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - Laura Roldan-Hernandez
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
| | - Kathryn Langenfeld
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan,
United States
| | - Krista R. Wigginton
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan,
United States
| | - Alexandria B. Boehm
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford 94305,
California, United States
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235
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Adelodun B, Tiamiyu AO, Ajibade FO, Odey G, Ibrahim RG, Goala M, Bakare HO, Ajibade TF, Adeniran JA, Adeniran KA, Choi KS. Presence, detection, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the sustainable remedial measures. ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT OF NOVEL CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19 ) 2021. [PMCID: PMC8237515 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-323-85780-2.00014-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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236
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Núñez-Delgado A, Zhou Y, Domingo JL. Editorial of the VSI "Environmental, ecological and public health considerations regarding coronaviruses, other viruses, and other microorganisms potentially causing pandemic diseases". ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 192:110322. [PMID: 33065071 PMCID: PMC7554130 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Avelino Núñez-Delgado
- Dept. Soil Sci. and Agric. Chem., Univ. Santiago de Compostela, Engineering Polytech. School, Campus Univ. S/n, 27002, Lugo, Spain.
| | - Yaoyu Zhou
- College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, Hunan Province, China
| | - José L Domingo
- Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, IISPV, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Reus, Spain
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237
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Bivins A, Greaves J, Fischer R, Yinda KC, Ahmed W, Kitajima M, Munster VJ, Bibby K. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in Water and Wastewater. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS 2020; 7:937-942. [PMID: 37566354 PMCID: PMC7553037 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 244] [Impact Index Per Article: 61.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA is frequently detected in the feces of infected individuals. While infectious SARS-CoV-2 has not previously been identified in wastewater, infectious SARS-CoV-2 has been isolated from the feces of at least one patient, raising concerns about the presence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The fate and inactivation characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in water and wastewater are unknown, with current inactivation estimates based on surrogate models. In this study, the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and RNA signal was determined in water and wastewater. The times for 90% reduction (T90) of viable SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and tap water at room temperature were 1.5 and 1.7 days, respectively. In high-starting titer (105 TCID50 mL-1) experiments, infectious virus persisted for the entire 7-day sampling time course. In wastewater at 50 and 70 °C, the observed T90 values for infectious SARS-CoV-2 were decreased to 15 and 2 min, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found to be significantly more persistent than infectious SARS-CoV-2, indicating that the environmental detection of RNA alone does not substantiate risk of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
& Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
Indiana 46556, United States
- Environmental Change Initiative,
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46566,
United States
| | - Justin Greaves
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
& Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
Indiana 46556, United States
| | - Robert Fischer
- Laboratory of Virology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories
(RML), National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840,
United States
| | - Kwe Claude Yinda
- Laboratory of Virology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories
(RML), National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840,
United States
| | - Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water,
Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD 4102,
Australia
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering,
Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo,
Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Vincent J. Munster
- Laboratory of Virology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories
(RML), National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840,
United States
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
& Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
Indiana 46556, United States
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238
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Whitney ON, Kennedy LC, Fan V, Hinkle A, Kantor R, Greenwald H, Crits-Christoph A, Al-Shayeb B, Chaplin M, Maurer AC, Tjian R, Nelson KL. Sewage, Salt, Silica and SARS-CoV-2 (4S): An economical kit-free method for direct capture of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2020:2020.12.01.20242131. [PMID: 33300015 PMCID: PMC7724686 DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.01.20242131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology is an emerging tool to monitor COVID-19 infection levels by measuring the concentration of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater. There remains a need to improve wastewater RNA extraction methods' sensitivity, speed, and reduce reliance on often expensive commercial reagents to make wastewater-based epidemiology more accessible. We present a kit-free wastewater RNA extraction method, titled "Sewage, Salt, Silica and SARS-CoV-2" (4S), that employs the abundant and affordable reagents sodium chloride (NaCl), ethanol and silica RNA capture matrices to recover 6-fold more SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater than an existing ultrafiltration-based method. The 4S method concurrently recovered pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) and human 18S ribosomal subunit rRNA, both suitable as fecal concentration controls. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations measured in three sewersheds corresponded to the relative prevalence of COVID-19 infection determined via clinical testing. Lastly, controlled experiments indicate that the 4S method prevented RNA degradation during storage of wastewater samples, was compatible with heat pasteurization, and could be performed in approximately 3 hours. Overall, the 4S method is promising for effective, economical, and accessible wastewater-based epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2, providing another tool to fight the global pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar N. Whitney
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Lauren C. Kennedy
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Vinson Fan
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Adrian Hinkle
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Rose Kantor
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Hannah Greenwald
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Alexander Crits-Christoph
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
| | - Basem Al-Shayeb
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
| | - Mira Chaplin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Anna C. Maurer
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Robert Tjian
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Kara L. Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA
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239
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Abstract
Wastewater testing captures the rise and fall of novel coronavirus cases in a mid-sized metropolitan region.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Larsen
- Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
| | - Krista R Wigginton
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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240
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Medema G, Been F, Heijnen L, Petterson S. Implementation of environmental surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 virus to support public health decisions: Opportunities and challenges. CURRENT OPINION IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & HEALTH 2020; 17:49-71. [PMID: 33024908 PMCID: PMC7528975 DOI: 10.1016/j.coesh.2020.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 201] [Impact Index Per Article: 50.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Analysing wastewater can be used to track infectious disease agents that are shed via stool and urine. Sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has been suggested as a tool to determine the extent of COVID-19 in cities and serve as an early warning for (re-)emergence of SARS-CoV-2 circulation in communities. The focus of this review is on the strength of evidence, opportunities and challenges for the application of sewage surveillance to inform public health decision making. Considerations for undertaking sampling programs are reviewed including sampling sites, strategies, sample transport, storage and quantification methods; together with the approach and evidence base for quantifying prevalence of infection from measured wastewater concentration. Published SARS-CoV-2 sewage surveillance studies (11 peer reviewed and 10 preprints) were reviewed to demonstrate the current status of implementation to support public health decisions. Although being very promising, a number of areas were identified requiring additional research to further strengthen this approach and take full advantage of its potential. In particular, design of adequate sampling strategies, spatial and temporal resolution of sampling, sample storage, replicate sampling and analysis, controls for the molecular methods used for the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. The use of appropriate prevalence data and methods to correlate or even translate SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in wastewater to prevalence of virus shedders in the population is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gertjan Medema
- KWR Water Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, Nieuwegein, 3433 PE, the Netherlands
- Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, Delft, 2628 CN, the Netherlands
- Michigan State University, 1405 S Harrison Rd, East-Lansing, Michigan, 48823, USA
| | - Frederic Been
- KWR Water Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, Nieuwegein, 3433 PE, the Netherlands
| | - Leo Heijnen
- KWR Water Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, Nieuwegein, 3433 PE, the Netherlands
| | - Susan Petterson
- Water & Health Pty Ltd, North Sydney, 2060, Australia
- School of Medicine, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Gold Coast, Australia
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241
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Ahmed W, Bivins A, Bertsch PM, Bibby K, Choi PM, Farkas K, Gyawali P, Hamilton KA, Haramoto E, Kitajima M, Simpson SL, Tandukar S, Thomas K, Mueller JF. Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater: Methods optimisation and quality control are crucial for generating reliable public health information. CURRENT OPINION IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & HEALTH 2020. [PMID: 33052320 DOI: 10.1016/j.coesh.2020c.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater through the process of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) provides an additional surveillance tool, contributing to community-based screening and prevention efforts as these measurements have preceded disease cases in some instances. Numerous detections of SARS-CoV-2 RNA have been reported globally using various methods, demonstrating the technical feasibility of routine monitoring. However, in order to reliably interpret data produced from these efforts for informing public health interventions, additional quality control information and standardization in sampling design, sample processing, and data interpretation and reporting is needed. This review summarizes published studies of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater as well as available information regarding concentration, extraction, and detection methods. The review highlights areas for potential standardization including considerations related to sampling timing and frequency relative to peak fecal loading times; inclusion of appropriate information on sample volume collected; sample collection points; transport and storage conditions; sample concentration and processing; RNA extraction process and performance; effective volumes; PCR inhibition; process controls throughout sample collection and processing; PCR standard curve performance; and recovery efficiency testing. Researchers are recommended to follow the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR (MIQE) guidelines. Adhering to these recommendations will enable robust interpretation of wastewater monitoring results and improved inferences regarding the relationship between monitoring results and disease cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
- Environmental Change Initiative, 721 Flanner Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
| | - Paul M Bertsch
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
| | - Phil M Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102
| | - Kata Farkas
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
| | - Pradip Gyawali
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Kerry A Hamilton
- The Biodesign Institute Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Temple, AZ, 85287
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4 - 3 -11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400 -8511, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0032, Japan
| | | | - Sarmila Tandukar
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4 - 3 -11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400 -8511, Japan
| | - Kevin Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102
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242
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Ahmed W, Bivins A, Bertsch PM, Bibby K, Choi PM, Farkas K, Gyawali P, Hamilton KA, Haramoto E, Kitajima M, Simpson SL, Tandukar S, Thomas K, Mueller JF. Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater: Methods optimisation and quality control are crucial for generating reliable public health information. CURRENT OPINION IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & HEALTH 2020; 17:S2468-5844(20)30060-X. [PMID: 33052320 PMCID: PMC7544017 DOI: 10.1016/j.coesh.2020.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2020] [Revised: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater through the process of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) provides an additional surveillance tool, contributing to community-based screening and prevention efforts as these measurements have preceded disease cases in some instances. Numerous detections of SARS-CoV-2 RNA have been reported globally using various methods, demonstrating the technical feasibility of routine monitoring. However, in order to reliably interpret data produced from these efforts for informing public health interventions, additional quality control information and standardization in sampling design, sample processing, and data interpretation and reporting is needed. This review summarizes published studies of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater as well as available information regarding concentration, extraction, and detection methods. The review highlights areas for potential standardization including considerations related to sampling timing and frequency relative to peak fecal loading times; inclusion of appropriate information on sample volume collected; sample collection points; transport and storage conditions; sample concentration and processing; RNA extraction process and performance; effective volumes; PCR inhibition; process controls throughout sample collection and processing; PCR standard curve performance; and recovery efficiency testing. Researchers are recommended to follow the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR (MIQE) guidelines. Adhering to these recommendations will enable robust interpretation of wastewater monitoring results and improved inferences regarding the relationship between monitoring results and disease cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warish Ahmed
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Aaron Bivins
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
- Environmental Change Initiative, 721 Flanner Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
| | - Paul M Bertsch
- CSIRO Land and Water, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Kyle Bibby
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46656, USA
| | - Phil M Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102
| | - Kata Farkas
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
| | - Pradip Gyawali
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Kerry A Hamilton
- The Biodesign Institute Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Temple, AZ, 85287
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4 - 3 -11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400 -8511, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0032, Japan
| | | | - Sarmila Tandukar
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4 - 3 -11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400 -8511, Japan
| | - Kevin Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102
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