Several forms of SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in wastewaters: Implication for wastewater-based epidemiology and risk assessment

• DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117183
• Publication Date: 2021-04-22T08:41:35Z
• Authors: S. Wurtzer; P. Waldman; A. Ferrier-Rembert; G. Frenois-Veyrat; J.M. Mouchel; M. Boni; Y. Maday; V. Marechal; L. Moulin
• Keywords: [SDV.MP.VIR] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology; 0301 basic medicine; Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Wastewater; infectious risk; Risk Assessment; 01 natural sciences; quantification; Article; 6. Clean water; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; particle integrity; [SDV.MP.VIR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology; Humans; RNA, Viral; wastewater; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

AbstractThe ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been a public health emergency of international concern. Although SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be mainly transmitted by inhalation of contaminated droplets and aerosols, SARS-CoV-2 is also detected in human feces and in raw wastewaters suggesting that other routes of infection may exist. Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 genomes in wastewaters has been proposed as a complementary approach for tracing the dynamics of virus transmission within human population connected to wastewater network. The understanding on SARS-CoV-2 transmission through wastewater surveillance, the development of epidemic modeling and the evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from contaminated wastewater are largely limited by our knowledge on viral RNA genome persistence and virus infectivity preservation in such an environment. Using an integrity based RT-qPCR assay this study led to the discovery that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can persist under several forms in wastewaters, which provides important information on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in raw wastewaters and associated risk assessment.Graphical Abstract