학술논문
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and comparison to COVID-19 cases in two sewersheds, North Carolina, USA.
Document Type
Academic Journal
Author
Grube AM; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Coleman CK; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; LaMontagne CD; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Miller ME; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Kothegal NP; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Holcomb DA; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States; Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Blackwood AD; Institute of Marine Sciences, Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, United States.; Clerkin TJ; Institute of Marine Sciences, Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, United States.; Serre ML; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Engel LS; Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.; Guidry VT; Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, NC Department of Health and Human Services, 5505 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC 27609, United States.; Noble RT; Institute of Marine Sciences, Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, United States.; Stewart JR; Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States. Electronic address: Jill.Stewart@unc.edu.
Source
Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0330500 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-1026 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00489697 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Total Environ Subsets: MEDLINE
Subject
Language
English
Abstract
Wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be useful for monitoring population-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, especially given asymptomatic infections and limitations in diagnostic testing. We aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and compare viral concentrations to COVID-19 case numbers in the respective counties and sewersheds. Influent 24-hour composite wastewater samples were collected from July to December 2020 from two municipal wastewater treatment plants serving different population sizes in Orange and Chatham Counties in North Carolina. After a concentration step via HA filtration, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected and quantified by reverse transcription droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-ddPCR) and quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), targeting the N1 and N2 nucleocapsid genes. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by RT-ddPCR in 100 % (24/24) and 79 % (19/24) of influent wastewater samples from the larger and smaller plants, respectively. In comparison, viral RNA was detected by RT-qPCR in 41.7 % (10/24) and 8.3 % (2/24) of samples from the larger and smaller plants, respectively. Positivity rates and method agreement further increased for the RT-qPCR assay when samples with positive signals below the limit of detection were counted as positive. The wastewater data from the larger plant generally correlated (⍴ ~0.5, p < 0.05) with, and even anticipated, the trends in reported COVID-19 cases, with a notable spike in measured viral RNA preceding a spike in cases when students returned to a college campus in the Orange County sewershed. Correlations were generally higher when using estimates of sewershed-level case data rather than county-level data. This work supports use of wastewater surveillance for tracking COVID-19 disease trends, especially in identifying spikes in cases. Wastewater-based epidemiology can be a valuable resource for tracking disease trends, allocating resources, and evaluating policy in the fight against current and future pandemics.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)