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?

Hong, Pei‐Ying; Rachmadi, Andri Taruna; Mantilla‐Calderon, David; Alkahtani, Mohsen; Bashawri, Yasir M.; Qarni, Hamed Al; O’Reilly, Kathleen; Zhou, Jian

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.110748

Cited by 71 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…Similarly, thermophilic digestion also confirms the finding of the sludge treatment process and establishes it on the grounds of the consensus of high sensitivity or inactivity of coronaviruses to the increased temperatures ( Foladori et al, 2020 ). According to a recent study Hong et al (2021) , the removal rate of SARS-CoV-2 target genes in a biological sludge tank within 9 h of treatment of hospital wastewater was N1 (0.3-log 10 ), whereas the reduction rate was N3 (0.5-log 10 ). Additionally, many factors in each process may affect the efficacy of the treatment stage, such as pH, HRT, biological solids retention time (BSRT), temperature ( Bogler et al, 2020 ; Saawarn and Hait, 2021 ; Wigginton and Ellenberg, 2015 ) in addition to wastewater characteristics, the flow rate of wastewater and weather conditions and other related criteria.…”

Section: Approaches To Processes For the Removal Of Sars-cov-2 In Wastewater Processing Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is virtually non-practical to continue with the clinical testing method of swabbing every individual of a country for a long time due to the restricted availability of resources and funds as well as due to the requirement of multiple resources and personnel ( Hong et al, 2021 ). Contrarily, directly monitoring the wastewater for the SARS-CoV-2 RNA over a long period will help in consummating the current process of clinical surveillance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrarily, directly monitoring the wastewater for the SARS-CoV-2 RNA over a long period will help in consummating the current process of clinical surveillance. The virus is ejected out by way of faeces by almost 39–65% of infected patients as well as asymptomatic hosts, whereas merely 6% of infected carriers pass it out through urine ( Chan et al, 2020 ; Cheung et al, 2020 ; Hong et al, 2021 ). Hence, the studies done for detection of SARS–CoV–2 RNA in untreated wastewater explored a molecular test, namely wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), that can be done to determine the invasive prevalence of the virus ( Ahmed et al, 2020a ; Kitajima et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review on detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in light of the current knowledge of treatment process for removal of viral fragments

Sangkham

2021

Journal of Environmental Management

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The entire globe is affected by the novel disease of coronavirus 2019 (COVID–19 or 2019–nCoV), which is formally recognised as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV–2). The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced this disease as a global pandemic. The presence of SARS-CoV–2 RNA in unprocessed wastewater has become a cause of worry due to these emerging pathogens in the process of wastewater treatment, as reported in the present study. This analysis intends to interpret the destiny, environmental factors and route of transmission of SARS–CoV–2, along with its eradication by treating the wastewater for controlling and preventing its further spread. Different recovery estimations of the virus have been depicted by the detection of SARS-CoV–2 RNA in wastewater through the viral concentration techniques. Most frequently used viral concentration techniques include polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, ultrafiltration, electronegative membrane, and ultracentrifugation, after which the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV–2 RNA are done in wastewater samples through quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT–qPCR). The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) holds the key responsibility of eliminating pathogens prior to the discharge of wastewater into surface water bodies. The removal of SARS–CoV–2 RNA at the treatment stage is dependent on the operations of wastewater treatment systems during the outbreak of the virus; particularly, in the urban and extensively populated regions. Efficient primary, secondary and tertiary methods of wastewater treatment and disinfection can reduce or inactivate SARS–CoV–2 RNA before being drained out. Nonetheless, further studies regarding COVID-19-related disinfectants, environment conditions and viral concentrations in each treatment procedure, implications on the environment and regular monitoring of transmission need to be done urgently. Hence, monitoring the SARS–CoV–2 RNA in samples of wastewater under the procedure of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) supplement the real-time data pertaining to the investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the community, regional and national levels.

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Section: Approaches To Processes For the Removal Of Sars-cov-2 In Wastewater Processing Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review on detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in light of the current knowledge of treatment process for removal of viral fragments

Sangkham

2021

Journal of Environmental Management

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“…Some authors have also reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 strains in the wastewater generated from the isolation centers and nearby hospitals where COVID-19 patients are being managed (J. Wang et al, 2020 ; Ge et al, 2020 ; Feng et al, 2021 ; Chakraborty et al, 2021 ; Ahmed et al, 2021 ; Hong et al, 2021 ), while others studies reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in water and wastewater collected from wastewater treatment plants ( Ahmed et al, 2020a ; La Rosa et al, 2020 ; Hasan et al, 2020 ; Haramoto et al, 2020 ; Mlejnkova et al, 2020 ; Peccia et al, 2020 ; Randazzo et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Rimoldi et al, 2020 ; Medema et al, 2020 ; Hokajärvi et al, 2021 ; Chavarria-Miró et al, 2021 ; Kitamura et al, 2021 ; Saguti et al, 2021 ), which are of course do not necessarily indicate the infectivity of the virus ( Buonerba et al, 2021 ). However, few studies have reported the detection and isolation of infectious SARS-CoV-2 from different environmental samples such as wastewaters ( Bivins et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2020 ; Sala-Comorera et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Life Cycle and Persistence Of Sars-cov-2 In Water-food- Environment Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the presence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water-food-environmental compartments: State of the knowledge and research needs

Adelodun

Ajibade

Tiamiyu

et al. 2021

Environmental Research

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The recent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2) and the accompanied coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has continued ceaselessly despite the implementations of popular measures, which include social distancing and outdoor face masking as recommended by the World Health Organization. Due to the unstable nature of the virus, leading to the emergence of new variants that are claimed to be more and rapidly transmissible, there is a need for further consideration of the alternative potential pathways of the virus transmissions to provide the needed and effective control measures. This review aims to address this important issue by examining the transmission pathways of SARS-CoV-2 via indirect contacts such as fomites and aerosols, extending to water, food, and other environmental compartments. This is essentially required to shed more light regarding the speculation of the virus spread through these media as the available information regarding this is fragmented in the literature. The existing state of the information on the presence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water-food-environmental compartments is essential for cause-and-effect relationships of human interactions and environmental samples to safeguard the possible transmission and associated risks through these media. Furthermore, the integration of effective remedial measures previously used to tackle the viral outbreaks and pandemics, and the development of new sustainable measures targeting at monitoring and curbing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 were emphasized. This study concluded that alternative transmission pathways via human interactions with environmental samples should not be ignored due to the evolving of more infectious and transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants.

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“…The data for the main sewers came almost exclusively from the period of epidemic decline, when the wastewater-based data were biased by the long excretion of viral RNA in stools, which might persist for up to 2 weeks after the patient is considered COVID-19-negative (Hong et al 2021, Wu et al 2020b.…”

Section: The Correlation Observed In the Main Prague Sewers And Small Sewers During The Intensive Sampling Campaignmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring COVID-19 spread in Prague local neighborhoods based on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater collected throughout the sewer network

Zdeňková

Bartackova

Čermáková

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Many reports have documented that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the influents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) correlates with the actual epidemic situation in a given city. However, few data have been reported thus far on measurements upstream of WWTPs, i.e. throughout the sewer network. In this study, the monitoring of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Prague wastewater was carried out at selected locations of the Prague sewer network from August 2020 through May 2021. Various locations such as residential areas of various sizes, hospitals, city center areas, student dormitories, transportation hubs (airport, bus terminal), and commercial areas were monitored together with four of the main Prague sewers. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was determined by reverse transcription - multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-mqPCR) after the precipitation of nucleic acids with PEG8000 and RNA isolation with TRIzol Reagent. The number of copies of the gene encoding SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N1) per liter of wastewater was compared with the number of officially registered COVID-19 cases in Prague. Although the data obtained by sampling wastewater from the major Prague sewers were more consistent than those obtained from the small sewers, the correlation between wastewater-based and clinical-testing data was also good for the residential areas with more than 1 000 registered inhabitants. It was shown that monitoring SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater sampled from small sewers could identify isolated occurrences of COVID-19-positive cases in local neighborhoods. This can be very valuable while tracking COVID-19 hotspots within large cities.

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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?

Cited by 71 publications

References 48 publications

A review on detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in light of the current knowledge of treatment process for removal of viral fragments

A review on detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in light of the current knowledge of treatment process for removal of viral fragments

Monitoring the presence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water-food-environmental compartments: State of the knowledge and research needs

Monitoring COVID-19 spread in Prague local neighborhoods based on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater collected throughout the sewer network

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