tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Total Environ
. 2021 Dec 23;152503.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152503. Online ahead of print.
Tracking the temporal variation of COVID-19 surges through wastewater-based epidemiology during the peak of the pandemic: A six-month long study in Charlotte, North Carolina
Visva Bharati Barua[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Md Ariful Islam Juel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], A Denene Blackwood[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Thomas Clerkin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Mark Ciesielski[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Adeola Julian Sorinolu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], David A Holcomb[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Isaiah Young[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gina Kimble[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Shannon Sypolt[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lawrence S Engel[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Rachel T Noble[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Mariya Munir[SUP] 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 has continued to be a serious concern after WHO declared the virus to be the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic. Monitoring of wastewater is a useful tool for assessing community prevalence given that fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 occurs in high concentrations by infected individuals, regardless of whether they are asymptomatic or symptomatic. Using tools that are part of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach, combined with molecular analyses, wastewater monitoring becomes a key piece of information used to assess trends and quantify the scale and dynamics of COVID-19 infection in a specific community, municipality, or area of service. This study investigates a six-month long SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification in influent wastewater from four municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) serving the Charlotte region of North Carolina (NC) using both RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR platforms. Influent wastewater was analyzed for the nucleocapsid (N) genes N1 and N2. Both RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR performed well for detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 using the N1 target, while for the N2 target RT-ddPCR was more sensitive. SARS-CoV-2 concentration ranged from 10[SUP]3[/SUP] to 10[SUP]5[/SUP] copies/L for all four plants. Both RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR showed a significant positive correlation between SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and the 7-day rolling average of clinically reported COVID-19 cases when lagging 5 to 12 days (ρ = 0.52-0.92, p < 0.001-0.02). A major finding of this study is that RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR generated SARS-CoV-2 data were positively correlated (ρ = 0.569, p < 0.0001) and can be successfully used to monitor SAR-COV-2 signals across the WWTPs of different sizes and metropolitan service functions without significant anomalies.
Keywords: COVID-19; RT-ddPCR; RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).
. 2021 Dec 23;152503.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152503. Online ahead of print.
Tracking the temporal variation of COVID-19 surges through wastewater-based epidemiology during the peak of the pandemic: A six-month long study in Charlotte, North Carolina
Visva Bharati Barua[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Md Ariful Islam Juel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], A Denene Blackwood[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Thomas Clerkin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Mark Ciesielski[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Adeola Julian Sorinolu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], David A Holcomb[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Isaiah Young[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Gina Kimble[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Shannon Sypolt[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Lawrence S Engel[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Rachel T Noble[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Mariya Munir[SUP] 5 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34954186
- DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152503
Abstract
The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 has continued to be a serious concern after WHO declared the virus to be the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic. Monitoring of wastewater is a useful tool for assessing community prevalence given that fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 occurs in high concentrations by infected individuals, regardless of whether they are asymptomatic or symptomatic. Using tools that are part of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach, combined with molecular analyses, wastewater monitoring becomes a key piece of information used to assess trends and quantify the scale and dynamics of COVID-19 infection in a specific community, municipality, or area of service. This study investigates a six-month long SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification in influent wastewater from four municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) serving the Charlotte region of North Carolina (NC) using both RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR platforms. Influent wastewater was analyzed for the nucleocapsid (N) genes N1 and N2. Both RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR performed well for detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 using the N1 target, while for the N2 target RT-ddPCR was more sensitive. SARS-CoV-2 concentration ranged from 10[SUP]3[/SUP] to 10[SUP]5[/SUP] copies/L for all four plants. Both RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR showed a significant positive correlation between SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and the 7-day rolling average of clinically reported COVID-19 cases when lagging 5 to 12 days (ρ = 0.52-0.92, p < 0.001-0.02). A major finding of this study is that RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR generated SARS-CoV-2 data were positively correlated (ρ = 0.569, p < 0.0001) and can be successfully used to monitor SAR-COV-2 signals across the WWTPs of different sizes and metropolitan service functions without significant anomalies.
Keywords: COVID-19; RT-ddPCR; RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).