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Juel MAI, Stark N, Nicolosi B, Lontai J, Lambirth K, Schlueter J, Gibas C, Munir M. Performance evaluation of virus concentration methods for implementing SARS-CoV-2 wastewater based epidemiology emphasizing quick data turnaround. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 801:149656. [PMID: 34418628 PMCID: PMC8363421 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) has drawn significant attention as an early warning tool to detect and predict the trajectory of COVID-19 cases in a community, in conjunction with public health data. This means of monitoring for outbreaks has been used at municipal wastewater treatment centers to analyze COVID-19 trends in entire communities, as well as by universities and other community living environments to monitor COVID-19 spread in buildings. Sample concentration is crucial, especially when viral abundance in raw wastewater is below the threshold of detection by RT-qPCR analysis. We evaluated the performance of a rapid ultrafiltration-based virus concentration method using InnovaPrep Concentrating Pipette (CP) Select and compared this to the established electronegative membrane filtration (EMF) method. We evaluated sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 quantification, surrogate virus recovery rate, and sample processing time. Results suggest that the CP Select concentrator is more efficient at concentrating SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater compared to the EMF method. About 25% of samples that tested negative when concentrated with the EMF method produced a positive signal with the CP Select protocol. Increased recovery of the surrogate virus control using the CP Select confirms this observation. We optimized the CP Select protocol by adding AVL lysis buffer and sonication, to increase the recovery of virus. Sonication increased Bovine Coronavirus (BCoV) recovery by 19%, which seems to compensate for viral loss during centrifugation. Filtration time decreases by approximately 30% when using the CP Select protocol, making this an optimal choice for building surveillance applications where quick turnaround time is necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Ariful Islam Juel
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States; Department of Leather Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Khulna 9203, Bangladesh
| | - Nicholas Stark
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Bridgette Nicolosi
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Jordan Lontai
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States; Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Kevin Lambirth
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Jessica Schlueter
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States; Bioinformatics Research Center, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Cynthia Gibas
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States; Bioinformatics Research Center, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
| | - Mariya Munir
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States; Bioinformatics Research Center, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States.
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