The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is shed in feces and the viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) is detectable in wastewater. A nine-week wastewater epidemiology study of ten wastewater facilities, serving 39% of the state of Utah or 1.26 M individuals was conducted in April and May of 2020. COVID-19 cases were tabulated from within each sewershed boundary. RNA from SARS-CoV-2 was detectable in 61% of 126 wastewater samples. Urban sewersheds serving >100,000 individuals and tourist communities had higher detection frequencies. An outbreak of COVID-19 across two communities positively correlated with an increase in wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA, while a decline in COVID-19 cases preceded a decline in RNA. SARS-CoV-2 RNA followed a first order decay rate in wastewater, while 90% of the RNA was present in the liquid phase of the influent. Infiltration and inflow, virus decay and sewershed characteristics should be considered during correlation analysis of SAR-CoV-2 with COVID-19 cases. These results provide evidence of the utility of wastewater epidemiology to assist in public health responses to COVID-19.

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Haemophilus influenzae is both a human respiratory pathogen and pharyngeal commensal, while H. haemolyticus, the closest phylogenetic relative of H. influenzae, is arguably a strict pharyngeal commensal. A hemolytic phenotype has historically differentiated H. haemolyticus from H. influenzae, but the recent recognition of significant nonhemolytic H. haemolyticus colonization has decreased this trait's resolvability. Given this and the potential of recombination between the species, we examined the distribution of microbiologic and molecular traits between collections of H. influenzae and H. haemolyticus strains separated within a dendrogram obtained by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA). All strains hybridizing with a probe to iga, a gene encoding an immunoglobulin A protease of H. influenzae, clustered apart from strains that did not hybridize with the probe. Other traits also segregated significantly along this division, suggesting a separation of the species. Of note, the LOS genes licA, lic2A, and lgtC of H. influenzae were approximately 2, 6, and 54 times, respectively, more prevalent in H. influenzae than in H. haemolyticus. In contrast to species separation, interspecies recombination was evidenced by the inability of single gene sequences to phylogenetically separate the species and by the "fuzzy" distribution of some species-specific traits across the species dividing line. Together, these data support the historically accurate and pragmatic division of these species while recognizing their potential for recombination. Future comparative genomic studies identifying common and distinctive genes could be useful in evaluating their role in the commensal or virulent growth, respectively, of H. influenzae.Haemophilus influenzae is one of eight Haemophilus species that reside as commensal organisms in the pharyngeal cavity of humans. These other commensal Haemophilus species include H. parainfluenzae, H. haemolyticus, H. parahaemolyticus, H. paraphrohaemolyticus, H. segnis, H. aphrophilus, and H. paraphrophilus. H. influenzae is by far the most pathogenic member of the genus in humans. Strains possessing a type b capsule are often associated with invasive diseases, such as meningitis, sepsis, and pneumonia; and strains lacking a capsule (referred to as nontypeable [NT]) are associated with localized mucosal diseases, such as otitis media, sinusitis, and bronchitis. Other haemophili are considered to be rarely associated with disease, and H. haemolyticus has never been implicated as an infectious disease agent (1).In contrast to other haemophili, H. haemolyticus and H. influenzae both depend on X (hemin) and V (NAD) growth factors, both lack the ability to ferment sucrose, both share similar GϩC contents, and both are nearly indistinguishable by their colony and cellular morphologies (25). Initial phylogenetic studies performed by using DNA-DNA hybridization revealed that H. haemolyticus associated with H. influenzae in a cluster of the family Pasteurellaceae termed Haemophilus sensu stricto (6,41,47), and t...

No abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is shed in feces and the virus RNA is detectable in wastewater. A nine-week wastewater epidemiology study of ten wastewater facilities, serving 39% of the state of Utah or 1.26M individuals was conducted in April and May of 2020. COVID-19 cases were tabulated from within each sewershed boundary by public health partners. The virus was detectable in 61% of 126 unique wastewater samples. Urban sewersheds serving >100,000 individuals and tourist communities had higher detection frequencies of the virus RNA. An outbreak of COVID-19 across two communities correlated with an increase in SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, while a decline in COVID-19 case counts preceded a decline in SARS-CoV-2 RNA. These results demonstrate the utility of wastewater epidemiology to assist in public health responses to COVID-19.