SARS-CoV-2 from faeces to wastewater treatment: What do we know? A review

Foladori, P.; Cutrupi, Francesca; Segata, Nicola; Manara, Serena; Pinto, Federica; Malpei, Francesca; Bruni, Luigino; Rosa, Giuseppina La

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140444

Cited by 359 publications

(412 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Previous studies have detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater samples worldwide [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ] highlighting ES as a potential tool to help establish early warning systems for the detection of peaks in virus circulation to be able to direct timely public health interventions. The turnaround of laboratory results could take as little as 48 h using our current workflow.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have shown that viral RNA of titres up to 8.0 Log10 genome copies (gc)/gram of faeces can be detected in stools of infected people for prolonged periods of time, long after the virus is no longer detected in respiratory samples [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Correspondingly, SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been found in wastewater samples in some countries with viral RNA loads ranging between 2.0 and 6.0 Log10 gc/L of sewage and generally a good correlation between RNA levels and numbers of COVID-19 confirmed cases [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in Sewage: Evidence of Changes in Virus Variant Predominance during COVID-19 Pandemic

Martı́n

Klapsa

Wilton

et al. 2020

Viruses

139

142

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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, is frequently shed in faeces during infection, and viral RNA has recently been detected in sewage in some countries. We have investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater samples from South-East England between 14th January and 12th May 2020. A novel nested RT-PCR approach targeting five different regions of the viral genome improved the sensitivity of RT-qPCR assays and generated nucleotide sequences at sites with known sequence polymorphisms among SARS-CoV-2 isolates. We were able to detect co-circulating virus variants, some specifically prevalent in England, and to identify changes in viral RNA sequences with time consistent with the recently reported increasing global dominance of Spike protein G614 pandemic variant. Low levels of viral RNA were detected in a sample from 11th February, 3 days before the first case was reported in the sewage plant catchment area. SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration increased in March and April, and a sharp reduction was observed in May, showing the effects of lockdown measures. We conclude that viral RNA sequences found in sewage closely resemble those from clinical samples and that environmental surveillance can be used to monitor SARS-CoV-2 transmission, tracing virus variants and detecting virus importations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in Sewage: Evidence of Changes in Virus Variant Predominance during COVID-19 Pandemic

Martı́n

Klapsa

Wilton

et al. 2020

Viruses

139

142

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“…How to translate scientific information to the decision-makers who normally have limited scientific background? Standardization of sampling methods and distributing analytical methods would help in building a strong foundation for estimating the reliability of the population served ( Daughton, 2020 ; Foladori et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19

Albastaki¹,

Naji²,

Lootah³

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

117

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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China and spread to more than 114 countries resulting in a pandemic, which was declared by the WHO in March 2020. Tracking the spread of the virus raised a main concern in every country. Many researches proved the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in stool samples of patients, where the genes of this virus gave a positive signal several days prior to the occurrence of symptoms. The fact of viral shedding in stools provides an advantage in utilizing wastewater systems as a tool to monitor the viral prevalence. We tested more than 2900 municipal wastewater samples coming from 49 distinctive area in Dubai, where 28.6% showed positive results. We also looked into the wastewater samples from 198 commercial aircrafts arriving at Dubai Airport, giving a positive result percentage of 13.6%. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 genes was confirmed using TaqPath™ Covid-19 RT-PCR kit, which targets ORF1ab , N gene and S gene. This project shows the significance of utilizing wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in monitoring the prevalence of various infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, which can assist the decision makers to determine the level of precautionary measures according to the areas of the outbreak. With this in mind, pricewise, WBE is considered cost-effective when comparing to clinical nasal swabs.

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“…This suggests that there may be other potential routes of transmission, such as exposure to SARS-CoV-2 that survive in community environment. Given that the infectious SARS-CoV-2 was found to be secreted through the human urinary system ( Sun et al, 2020 ) and intestinal tract ( Wang et al, 2020d ; Xiao et al, 2020b ; Zhou et al, 2020a ), and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in wastewater worldwide ( Randazzo et al, 2020 ), many studies have suggested the possibility of wastewater transmission of COVID-19 disease ( Adelodun et al, 2020 ; Arslan et al, 2020 ; Foladori et al, 2020 ). However, the direct use of untreated excreta as a fertilizer and the flushing of excreta from open cesspools into the waters on rainy days might lead to serious water pollution, including the SARS-CoV-2 within human excreta.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pit latrines may be a potential risk in rural China and low-income countries when dealing with COVID-19

Liu

Hou

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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According to the latest reports, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which caused coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was successfully isolated from the excreta (stool and urine) of COVID-19 patients, suggesting SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted through excreta contaminated water. As pit latrines and the use of untreated excreta as fertilizer were common in rural China, we surveyed 27 villages of Jiangxi and Hubei provinces and found that pit latrines could be a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 water pollution. Recently, bats have been widely recognized as the source of SARS-CoV-2. There were many possible intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2, including pangolin, snake, bird and fish, but which one was still not clear exactly. Here, we proposed a hypothesis to illustrate the mechanism that SARS-CoV-2 might spread from the excreta of infected humans in pit latrines to potential animal hosts, thus becoming a sustainable source of infection in rural China. Therefore, we believe that abolishing pit latrines and banning the use of untreated excreta as fertilizer can improve the local living environment and effectively prevent COVID-19 and other potential waterborne diseases that could emanate from the excreta of infected persons. Although this study focused on rural areas in China, the results could also be applied to low-income countries, especially in Africa.

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SARS-CoV-2 from faeces to wastewater treatment: What do we know? A review

Cited by 359 publications

References 86 publications

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in Sewage: Evidence of Changes in Virus Variant Predominance during COVID-19 Pandemic

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in Sewage: Evidence of Changes in Virus Variant Predominance during COVID-19 Pandemic

First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19

Pit latrines may be a potential risk in rural China and low-income countries when dealing with COVID-19

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