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Gomes M, Zuchi IDP, Pavi CP, Fongaro G, da Silva IT, Pezzini BR. Skin- and Eco-Friendly Hand Sanitizer: A Novel Composition of Natural Extracts to Prevent the Spread of Respiratory Viruses. AAPS PharmSciTech 2024; 25:98. [PMID: 38714600 DOI: 10.1208/s12249-024-02808-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Respiratory diseases caused by viruses are a serious global health threat. Although the use of hand sanitizers containing alcohol and synthetic antiseptic agents is recognized as an effective, simple, and low-cost measure to combat viral transmission, they can harm human health and the environment. Thus, this work aimed to study the efficacy of combining Camellia sinensis and Chamomilla recutita extracts in a skin- and eco-friendly leave-on hand sanitizer to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. An oil-in-water emulsion containing C. recutita oily extract (5.0%), C. recutita glycolic extract (0.2%) and C. sinensis glycolic extract (5.0%) showed virucidal activity against HAdV-2 (respiratory virus) and two surrogate viruses of SARS-CoV-2 (HSV-1 and MVH-3), showing great potential to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. These natural extracts combined are also promising to combat a broad spectrum of other viruses, in the form of antiseptic mouthwashes or throat sprays, surface disinfectants, and veterinary products, among others. Complementally, the developed hand sanitizer demonstrated efficacy against bacteria and fungus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Gomes
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil
| | - Isabella Dai Prá Zuchi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil
| | - Catielen Paula Pavi
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil
| | - Gislaine Fongaro
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil
| | - Izabella Thaís da Silva
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil
| | - Bianca Ramos Pezzini
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil.
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2
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Mullins N, Alashraf AR, McDermott K, Brown RS, Payne SJ. Polyethylenimine mediated recovery of SARS-CoV-2 and total viral RNA: Impact of aqueous conditions on behaviour and recovery. Water Res 2024; 253:121207. [PMID: 38401469 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Revised: 10/28/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an emerging, practical surveillance tool for monitoring community levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, SC2). However, a paucity of data exists regarding SARS-CoV-2 and viral biomarker behaviour in aqueous and wastewater environments. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop efficient and robust methods that both improve method sensitivity and reduce time and cost. We present a novel method for SARS-CoV-2, Human Coronavirus 229E (229E), and Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (PMMoV) recovery utilizing surface charge-based attraction via the branched cationic polymer, polyethylenimine (PEI). Initially, dose-optimization experiments demonstrated that low concentrations of PEI (0.001% w/v) proved most effective at flocculating suspended viruses and viral material, including additional unbound SC2 viral fragments and/or RNA from raw wastewater. A design-of-experiments (DOE) approach was used to optimize virus and/or viral material aggregation behaviour and recovery across varying aqueous conditions, revealing pH as a major influence on recoverability in this system, combinatorially due to both a reduction in viral material surface charge and increased protonation of PEI-bound amine groups. Overall, this method has shown great promise in significantly improving quantitative viral recovery, providing a straightforward and effective augmentation to standard centrifugation techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Mullins
- Queen's University, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada; McMaster University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L7, Canada
| | - Abdul Rahman Alashraf
- Queen's University, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada; Queen's University, Beaty Water Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | | | - R Stephen Brown
- Queen's University, Department of Chemistry and School of Environmental Studies, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada; Queen's University, Beaty Water Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada.
| | - Sarah Jane Payne
- Queen's University, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada; Queen's University, Beaty Water Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada.
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3
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Ahuja S, Tallur S, Kondabagil K. Simultaneous microbial capture and nucleic acid extraction from wastewater with minimal pre-processing and high recovery efficiency. Sci Total Environ 2024; 918:170347. [PMID: 38336063 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated research towards developing low-cost assays for automated urban wastewater monitoring assay that can be integrated into an environmental surveillance system for early warning of frequent disease outbreaks and future pandemics. Microbial concentration is one of the most challenging steps in wastewater surveillance, due to the sample heterogeneity and low pathogen load. Keeping in mind the requirements of large-scale testing in densely populated low- or middle-income countries (LMICs), such assays would need to be low-cost and have rapid turnaround time with high recovery efficiency. In this study, two such methods are presented and evaluated against commercially available kits for pathogen detection in wastewater. The first method utilizes paper dipsticks while the second method comprises of a PTFE membrane filter (PMF) integrated with a peristaltic pump. Both methods were used to concentrate and isolate nucleic acids from different microbes such as SARS-CoV-2, pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), bacteriophage Phi6, and E. coli from wastewater samples with minimal or no sample pre-processing. While the paper dipstick method is suitable for sub-milliliter sample volume, the PMF method can be used with larger volumes of wastewater sample (40 mL) and can detect multiple microbes with recovery efficiency comparable to commercially available kits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shruti Ahuja
- Centre for Research in Nanotechnology & Science (CRNTS), IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, Maharashtra, India.
| | - Siddharth Tallur
- Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, Maharashtra, India.
| | - Kiran Kondabagil
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, Maharashtra, India.
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4
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Chen C, Kaur G, Adiga A, Espinoza B, Venkatramanan S, Warren A, Lewis B, Crow J, Singh R, Lorentz A, Toney D, Marathe M. Wastewater-based Epidemiology for COVID-19 Surveillance: A Survey. ArXiv 2024:arXiv:2403.15291v1. [PMID: 38562450 PMCID: PMC10984000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The pandemic of COVID-19 has imposed tremendous pressure on public health systems and social economic ecosystems over the past years. To alleviate its social impact, it is important to proactively track the prevalence of COVID-19 within communities. The traditional way to estimate the disease prevalence is to estimate from reported clinical test data or surveys. However, the coverage of clinical tests is often limited and the tests can be labor-intensive, requires reliable and timely results, and consistent diagnostic and reporting criteria. Recent studies revealed that patients who are diagnosed with COVID-19 often undergo fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 virus into wastewater, which makes wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for COVID-19 surveillance a promising approach to complement traditional clinical testing. In this paper, we survey the existing literature regarding WBE for COVID-19 surveillance and summarize the current advances in the area. Specifically, we have covered the key aspects of wastewater sampling, sample testing, and presented a comprehensive and organized summary of wastewater data analytical methods. Finally, we provide the open challenges on current wastewater-based COVID-19 surveillance studies, aiming to encourage new ideas to advance the development of effective wastewater-based surveillance systems for general infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Chen
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Gursharn Kaur
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Aniruddha Adiga
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Baltazar Espinoza
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Srinivasan Venkatramanan
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Andrew Warren
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Bryan Lewis
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
| | - Justin Crow
- Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, 23219, United States
| | - Rekha Singh
- Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, 23219, United States
| | - Alexandra Lorentz
- Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, Department of General Services, Richmond, 23219, United States
| | - Denise Toney
- Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services, Department of General Services, Richmond, 23219, United States
| | - Madhav Marathe
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
- Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904, United States
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5
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Parkins MD, Lee BE, Acosta N, Bautista M, Hubert CRJ, Hrudey SE, Frankowski K, Pang XL. Wastewater-based surveillance as a tool for public health action: SARS-CoV-2 and beyond. Clin Microbiol Rev 2024; 37:e0010322. [PMID: 38095438 PMCID: PMC10938902 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00103-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) has undergone dramatic advancement in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The power and potential of this platform technology were rapidly realized when it became evident that not only did WBS-measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA correlate strongly with COVID-19 clinical disease within monitored populations but also, in fact, it functioned as a leading indicator. Teams from across the globe rapidly innovated novel approaches by which wastewater could be collected from diverse sewersheds ranging from wastewater treatment plants (enabling community-level surveillance) to more granular locations including individual neighborhoods and high-risk buildings such as long-term care facilities (LTCF). Efficient processes enabled SARS-CoV-2 RNA extraction and concentration from the highly dilute wastewater matrix. Molecular and genomic tools to identify, quantify, and characterize SARS-CoV-2 and its various variants were adapted from clinical programs and applied to these mixed environmental systems. Novel data-sharing tools allowed this information to be mobilized and made immediately available to public health and government decision-makers and even the public, enabling evidence-informed decision-making based on local disease dynamics. WBS has since been recognized as a tool of transformative potential, providing near-real-time cost-effective, objective, comprehensive, and inclusive data on the changing prevalence of measured analytes across space and time in populations. However, as a consequence of rapid innovation from hundreds of teams simultaneously, tremendous heterogeneity currently exists in the SARS-CoV-2 WBS literature. This manuscript provides a state-of-the-art review of WBS as established with SARS-CoV-2 and details the current work underway expanding its scope to other infectious disease targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D. Parkins
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- O’Brien Institute of Public Health, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Bonita E. Lee
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Nicole Acosta
- Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Maria Bautista
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Casey R. J. Hubert
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Steve E. Hrudey
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kevin Frankowski
- Advancing Canadian Water Assets, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Xiao-Li Pang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Provincial Health Laboratory, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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6
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Shrestha S, Malla B, Haramoto E. Estimation of Norovirus infections in Japan: An application of wastewater-based epidemiology for enteric disease assessment. Sci Total Environ 2024; 912:169334. [PMID: 38103617 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 12/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Noroviruses of genogroup I (NoV GI) and NoV GII are the primary causes of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in developed countries. However, asymptomatic and untested NoV infections lead to an underestimation of AGE cases, and the lack of mandatory viral identification in clinical cases hinders precise estimation of NoV infections. Back estimation of NoV infections in the community using a wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach can provide valuable insights into the disease's extent, progression, and epidemiology, aiding in developing effective control strategies. This study employed a one-step reverse transcription-quantitative PCR to quantify NoVs GI and GII in wastewater samples (n = 83) collected twice a week from June 2022 to March 2023 in Japan. All samples from the Winter-Spring (n = 27) tested positive for NoV GI and GII RNA, while 73 % and 88 % of samples from the Summer-Autumn (n = 56) were positive for NoV GI and NoV GII RNA, respectively. Significantly higher concentrations of NoV GI/GII RNA were found in the Winter-Spring season compared to the Summer-Autumn season. NoV RNA was consistently detected in wastewater throughout the year, demonstrating the persistence of AGE cases in the catchment, suggesting an endemic NoV infection. Estimates of NoV infection incorporated viral RNA concentrations, wastewater parameters, and signal persistence in a mass balance equation using Monte Carlo Simulation. The median estimated NoV GI infections per 100,000 population for Summer-Autumn was 133 and for the Winter-Spring season, it was 881. Estimated NoV GII infections were 1357 for Summer-Autumn and 11,997 for the Winter-Spring season per 100,000 population. The estimated NoV infections exceeded by 3.2 and 23.9 folds than the reported AGE cases in Summer-Autumn and Winter-Spring seasons, respectively. The seasonal trend of estimated NoV infections closely matched that of AGE cases, highlighting the utility of WBE in understanding the epidemiology of enteric infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadhana Shrestha
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Bikash Malla
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan.
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7
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Cuevas-Ferrando E, Sánchez G, Pérez-Cataluña A. SARS-CoV-2 Detection and Genome Sequencing in Urban Wastewaters. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2732:119-131. [PMID: 38060121 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3515-5_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Due to the excretion of SARS-CoV-2 in faeces, the use of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a useful tool for virus surveillance in large populations. The analysis of this virus includes a concentration step prior to virus detection by RT-qPCR. In addition, the use of massive sequencing allows the detection of specific mutations of clinical importance, as well as the detection of the introduction of new lineages in a specific population. In this chapter, we describe the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in urban wastewater by the concentration of the samples by precipitation with aluminum chloride, the detection, and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-qPCR and the genomic sequencing using two different sequencing platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enric Cuevas-Ferrando
- VISAFELab, Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Valencia, Paterna, Spain
| | - Gloria Sánchez
- VISAFELab, Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Valencia, Paterna, Spain
| | - Alba Pérez-Cataluña
- VISAFELab, Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Valencia, Paterna, Spain.
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8
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Anderson CE, Boehm AB. Sunlight Inactivation of Enveloped Viruses in Clear Water. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:21395-21404. [PMID: 38062652 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c06680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Enveloped virus fate in the environment is not well understood; there are no quantitative data on sunlight inactivation of enveloped viruses in water. Herein, we measured the sunlight inactivation of two enveloped viruses (Phi6 and murine hepatitis virus, MHV) and a nonenveloped virus (MS2) over time in clear water with simulated sunlight exposure. We attenuated UV sunlight wavelengths using long-pass 50% cutoff filters at 280, 305, and 320 nm. With the lowest UV attenuation tested, all decay rate constants (corrected for UV light screening, k̂) were significantly different from dark controls; the MS2 k̂ was equal to 4.5 m2/MJ, compared to 16 m2/MJ for Phi6 and 52 m2/MJ for MHV. With the highest UV attenuation tested, only k̂ for MHV (6.1 m2/MJ) was different from the dark control. Results indicate that the two enveloped viruses decay faster than the nonenveloped virus studied, and k̂ are significantly impacted by UV attenuation. Differences in k̂ may be due to the presence of viral envelopes but may also be related to other differing intrinsic properties of the viruses, including genome length and composition. Reported k̂ values can inform strategies to reduce the risk from exposure to enveloped viruses in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire E Anderson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Alexandria B Boehm
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
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9
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Zhao B, Fujita T, Nihei Y, Yu Z, Chen X, Tanaka H, Ihara M. Tracking community infection dynamics of COVID-19 by monitoring SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, counting positive reactions by qPCR. Sci Total Environ 2023; 904:166420. [PMID: 37611711 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology has proved useful for monitoring the COVID-19 infection dynamics in communities. However, in regions of low prevalence, low concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater make this difficult. Here, we used real-time reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) to monitor SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater from October 2020 to December 2022 during the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth waves of the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. Viral RNA was below the limit of detection in all samples during the third and fourth waves. However, by counting the number of positive replicates in qPCR of each sample, we found that the positive ratio to all replicates in wastewater was significantly correlated with the number of clinically confirmed cases by the date of symptom onset during the third, fourth, and fifth waves. Time-step analysis indicated that, for 2 days either side of symptom onset, COVID-19 patients excreted in their feces large amounts of virus that wastewater surveillance could detect. We also demonstrated that the viral genome copy number in wastewater, as estimated from the positive ratio of SARSA-CoV-2 RNA, was correlated with the number of clinically confirmed cases. The positive count method is thus useful for tracing COVID-19 dynamics in regions of low prevalence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, PR China; Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan
| | - Tomonori Fujita
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan
| | - Yoshiaki Nihei
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan; Water Agency Inc., 3-25 Higashi-Goken-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0813, Japan
| | - Zaizhi Yu
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan
| | - Xiaohan Chen
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Tanaka
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan
| | - Masaru Ihara
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga 520-0811, Japan; Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University, 200 Monobe-Otsu, Nankoku city, Kochi 783-8502, Japan.
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Zhu X, Kim TY, Kim SM, Luo K, Lim MC. Recent Advances in Biosensor Development for the Detection of Viral Particles in Foods: A Comprehensive Review. J Agric Food Chem 2023; 71:15942-15953. [PMID: 37862248 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c05166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2023]
Abstract
Viral foodborne diseases cause serious harm to human health and the economy. Rapid, accurate, and convenient approaches for detecting foodborne viruses are crucial for preventing diseases. Biosensors integrating electrochemical and optical properties of nanomaterials have emerged as effective tools for the detection of viruses in foods. However, they still face several challenges, including substantial sample preparation and relatively poor sensitivity due to complex food matrices, which limit their field applications. Hence, the purpose of this review is to provide an overview of recent advances in biosensing techniques, including electrochemical, SERS-based, and colorimetric biosensors, for detecting viral particles in food samples, with emerging techniques for extraction/concentration of virus particles from food samples. Moreover, the principle, design, and advantages/disadvantages of each biosensing method are comprehensively described. This review covers the recent development of rapid and sensitive biosensors that can be used as new standards for monitoring food safety and food quality in the food industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoning Zhu
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, People's Republic of China
| | - Tai-Yong Kim
- Research Group of Food Safety and Distribution, Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do 55365, Republic of Korea
| | - Se-Min Kim
- Research Group of Food Safety and Distribution, Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do 55365, Republic of Korea
- Department of Food Science and Technology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do 54896, Republic of Korea
| | - Ke Luo
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, People's Republic of China
| | - Min-Cheol Lim
- Research Group of Food Safety and Distribution, Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do 55365, Republic of Korea
- Department of Food Biotechnology, Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon-si 34113, Republic of Korea
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11
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Canh VD, Torii S, Singhopon T, Katayama H. Inactivation of coxsackievirus B5 by free chlorine under conditions relevant to drinking water treatment. J Water Health 2023; 21:1318-1324. [PMID: 37756198 PMCID: wh_2023_178 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2023.178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Chlorine disinfection is commonly applied to inactivate pathogenic viruses in drinking water treatment plants. However, the role of water quality in chlorine disinfection of viruses has not been investigated thoughtfully. In this study, we investigated the inactivation efficiency of coxsackievirus B5 (CVB5) by free chlorine using actual water samples collected from four full-scale drinking water treatment plants in Japan under strict turbidity management (less than 0.14 NTU) over a 12-month period. It was found that chlorine disinfection of CVB5 might not be affected by water quality. Japanese turbidity management might play an indirect role in controlling the efficiency of chlorine disinfection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vu Duc Canh
- Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan E-mail:
| | - Shotaro Torii
- Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan; Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), École Polytechnique F ́ed ́erale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tippawan Singhopon
- Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Katayama
- Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan; Research Center for Water Environment Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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12
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Dhiyebi HA, Abu Farah J, Ikert H, Srikanthan N, Hayat S, Bragg LM, Qasim A, Payne M, Kaleis L, Paget C, Celmer-Repin D, Folkema A, Drew S, Delatolla R, Giesy JP, Servos MR. Assessment of seasonality and normalization techniques for wastewater-based surveillance in Ontario, Canada. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1186525. [PMID: 37711234 PMCID: PMC10499178 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1186525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Wastewater-based surveillance is at the forefront of monitoring for community prevalence of COVID-19, however, continued uncertainty exists regarding the use of fecal indicators for normalization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater. Using three communities in Ontario, sampled from 2021-2023, the seasonality of a viral fecal indicator (pepper mild mottle virus, PMMoV) and the utility of normalization of data to improve correlations with clinical cases was examined. Methods Wastewater samples from Warden, the Humber Air Management Facility (AMF), and Kitchener were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2, PMMoV, and crAssphage. The seasonality of PMMoV and flow rates were examined and compared by Season-Trend-Loess decomposition analysis. The effects of normalization using PMMoV, crAssphage, and flow rates were analyzed by comparing the correlations to clinical cases by episode date (CBED) during 2021. Results Seasonal analysis demonstrated that PMMoV had similar trends at Humber AMF and Kitchener with peaks in January and April 2022 and low concentrations (troughs) in the summer months. Warden had similar trends but was more sporadic between the peaks and troughs for PMMoV concentrations. Flow demonstrated similar trends but was not correlated to PMMoV concentrations at Humber AMF and was very weak at Kitchener (r = 0.12). Despite the differences among the sewersheds, unnormalized SARS-CoV-2 (raw N1-N2) concentration in wastewater (n = 99-191) was strongly correlated to the CBED in the communities (r = 0.620-0.854) during 2021. Additionally, normalization with PMMoV did not improve the correlations at Warden and significantly reduced the correlations at Humber AMF and Kitchener. Flow normalization (n = 99-191) at Humber AMF and Kitchener and crAssphage normalization (n = 29-57) correlations at all three sites were not significantly different from raw N1-N2 correlations with CBED. Discussion Differences in seasonal trends in viral biomarkers caused by differences in sewershed characteristics (flow, input, etc.) may play a role in determining how effective normalization may be for improving correlations (or not). This study highlights the importance of assessing the influence of viral fecal indicators on normalized SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses of concern. Fecal indicators used to normalize the target of interest may help or hinder establishing trends with clinical outcomes of interest in wastewater-based surveillance and needs to be considered carefully across seasons and sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadi A. Dhiyebi
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Joud Abu Farah
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Heather Ikert
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | | | - Samina Hayat
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Leslie M. Bragg
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Asim Qasim
- Regional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada
| | - Mark Payne
- Regional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada
| | - Linda Kaleis
- Regional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada
| | - Caitlyn Paget
- Regional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada
| | | | | | - Stephen Drew
- Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Robert Delatolla
- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - John P. Giesy
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
- Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
| | - Mark R. Servos
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
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13
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Ciannella S, González-Fernández C, Gomez-Pastora J. Recent progress on wastewater-based epidemiology for COVID-19 surveillance: A systematic review of analytical procedures and epidemiological modeling. Sci Total Environ 2023; 878:162953. [PMID: 36948304 PMCID: PMC10028212 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), whose causative agent is the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a pandemic. This virus is predominantly transmitted via respiratory droplets and shed via sputum, saliva, urine, and stool. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been able to monitor the circulation of viral pathogens in the population. This tool demands both in-lab and computational work to be meaningful for, among other purposes, the prediction of outbreaks. In this context, we present a systematic review that organizes and discusses laboratory procedures for SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification from a wastewater matrix, along with modeling techniques applied to the development of WBE for COVID-19 surveillance. The goal of this review is to present the current panorama of WBE operational aspects as well as to identify current challenges related to it. Our review was conducted in a reproducible manner by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for systematic reviews. We identified a lack of standardization in wastewater analytical procedures. Regardless, the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) approach was the most reported technique employed to detect and quantify viral RNA in wastewater samples. As a more convenient sample matrix, we suggest the solid portion of wastewater to be considered in future investigations due to its higher viral load compared to the liquid fraction. Regarding the epidemiological modeling, the data-driven approach was consistently used for the prediction of variables associated with outbreaks. Future efforts should also be directed toward the development of rapid, more economical, portable, and accurate detection devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Ciannella
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock 79409, TX, USA.
| | - Cristina González-Fernández
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock 79409, TX, USA; Departamento de Ingenierías Química y Biomolecular, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Los Castros, s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain.
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14
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Oloye FF, Xie Y, Challis JK, Femi-Oloye OP, Brinkmann M, McPhedran KN, Jones PD, Servos MR, Giesy JP. Understanding common population markers for SARS-CoV-2 RNA normalization in wastewater - A review. Chemosphere 2023; 333:138682. [PMID: 37201600 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater monitoring and epidemiology have seen renewed interest during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is an increasing need to normalize wastewater-derived viral loads in local populations. Chemical tracers, both exogenous and endogenous compounds, have proven to be more stable and reliable for normalization than biological indicators. However, differing instrumentation and extraction methods can make it difficult to compare results. This review examines current extraction and quantification methods for ten common population indicators: creatinine, coprostanol, nicotine, cotinine, sucralose, acesulfame, androstenedione 5-hydroindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), caffeine, and 1,7-dimethyluric acid. Some wastewater parameters such as ammonia, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and daily flowrate were also evaluated. The analytical methods included direct injection, dilute and shoot, liquid/liquid, and solid phase extraction (SPE). Creatine, acesulfame, nicotine, 5-HIAA and androstenedione have been analysed by direct injection into LC-MS; however, most authors prefer to include SPE steps to avoid matrix effects. Both LC-MS and GC-MS have been successfully used to quantify coprostanol in wastewater, and the other selected indicators have been quantified successfully with LC-MS. Acidification to stabilize the sample before freezing to maintain the integrity of samples has been reported to be beneficial. However, there are arguments both for and against working at acidic pHs. Wastewater parameters mentioned earlier are quick and easy to quantify, but the data does not always represent the human population effectively. A preference for population indicators originating solely from humans is apparent. This review summarises methods employed for chemical indicators in wastewater, provides a basis for choosing an appropriate extraction and analysis method, and highlights the utility of accurate chemical tracer data for wastewater-based epidemiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Femi F Oloye
- Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
| | - Yuwei Xie
- Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | | | | | - Markus Brinkmann
- Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Kerry N McPhedran
- School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Paul D Jones
- Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | - Mark R Servos
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
| | - John P Giesy
- Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; Department of Environmental Sciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA; Department of Integrative Biology and Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
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15
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Angga MS, Malla B, Raya S, Kitajima M, Haramoto E. Optimization and performance evaluation of an automated filtration method for the recovery of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses in wastewater. Sci Total Environ 2023; 882:163487. [PMID: 37068668 PMCID: PMC10105377 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
A rapid virus concentration method is needed to get high throughput. Reliable results of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection in wastewater are necessary for applications in wastewater-based epidemiology. In this study, an automated filtration method using a concentrating pipette (CP Select; Innovaprep) was applied to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples with several modifications to increase its sensitivity and throughput. The performance of the CP Select method was compared to other concentration methods (polyethylene glycol precipitation and direct capture using silica column) to evaluate its applicability to SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was successfully detected in six of eight wastewater samples using the CP Select method, whereas other methods could detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in all wastewater samples. Enteric viruses, such as noroviruses of genogroups I (NoVs-GI) and II (NoVs-GII) and enteroviruses, were tested, resulting in 100 % NoVs-GII detection using all concentration methods. As for NoVs-GI and enteroviruses, all methods gave comparable number of detected samples in wastewater samples. This study showed that the optimized CP Select method was less sensitive in SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater than other methods, whereas all methods were applicable to detect or recover other viruses in wastewater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Made Sandhyana Angga
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Bikash Malla
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Sunayana Raya
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan.
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan.
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Lucansky V, Samec M, Burjanivova T, Lukacova E, Kolkova Z, Holubekova V, Turyova E, Hornakova A, Zaborsky T, Podlesniy P, Reizigova L, Dankova Z, Novakova E, Pecova R, Calkovska A, Halasova E. Comparison of the methods for isolation and detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in municipal wastewater. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1116636. [PMID: 36960362 PMCID: PMC10028190 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1116636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a causative agent responsible for the current global pandemic situation known as COVID-19. Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 include a wide range of symptoms from mild (i.e., cough, fever, dyspnea) to severe pneumonia-like respiratory symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 has been demonstrated to be detectable in the stool of COVID-19 patients. Waste-based epidemiology (WBE) has been shown as a promising approach for early detection and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in the local population performed via collection, isolation, and detection of viral pathogens from environmental sources. Methods In order to select the optimal protocol for monitoring the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in region Turiec, Slovakia, we (1) compared methods for SARS-CoV-2 separation and isolation, including virus precipitation by polyethylene glycol (PEG), virus purification via ultrafiltration (Vivaspin®) and subsequent isolation by NucleoSpin RNA Virus kit (Macherey-Nagel), and direct isolation from wastewater (Zymo Environ Water RNA Kit); (2) evaluated the impact of water freezing on SARS- CoV-2 separation, isolation, and detection; (3) evaluated the role of wastewater filtration on virus stability; and (4) determined appropriate methods including reverse transcription-droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) (targeting the same genes, i.e., RdRp and gene E) for quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples. Results (1) Usage of Zymo Environ Water RNA Kit provided superior quality of isolated RNA in comparison with both ultracentrifugation and PEG precipitation. (2) Freezing of wastewater samples significantly reduces the RNA yield. (3) Filtering is counterproductive when Zymo Environ Water RNA Kit is used. (4) According to the specificity and sensitivity, the RT-ddPCR outperforms RT-qPCR. Discussion The results of our study suggest that WBE is a valuable early warning alert and represents a non-invasive approach to monitor viral pathogens, thus protects public health on a regional and national level. In addition, we have shown that the sensitivity of testing the samples with a nearer detection limit can be improved by selecting the appropriate combination of enrichment, isolation, and detection methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Lucansky
- Biomedical Centre Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin (JFMED CU), Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Marek Samec
- Department of Pathophysiology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Tatiana Burjanivova
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Eva Lukacova
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Zuzana Kolkova
- Biomedical Centre Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin (JFMED CU), Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Veronika Holubekova
- Biomedical Centre Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin (JFMED CU), Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Eva Turyova
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genomics, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Andrea Hornakova
- Biomedical Centre Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin (JFMED CU), Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Tibor Zaborsky
- RÚVZ (Regional Office of Public Health), Martin, Slovakia
| | - Petar Podlesniy
- Centro Investigacion Biomedica en Red Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CiberNed), Madrid, Spain
| | - Lenka Reizigova
- Center for Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Health Care and Social Work, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
| | - Zuzana Dankova
- Biobank for Cancer and Rare Diseases, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin (JFMED CU), Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Elena Novakova
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Renata Pecova
- Department of Pathophysiology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Andrea Calkovska
- Department of Physiology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
| | - Erika Halasova
- Biomedical Centre Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin (JFMED CU), Comenius University in Bratislava, Martin, Slovakia
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Girón-Guzmán I, Díaz-Reolid A, Cuevas-Ferrando E, Falcó I, Cano-Jiménez P, Comas I, Pérez-Cataluña A, Sánchez G. Evaluation of two different concentration methods for surveillance of human viruses in sewage and their effects on SARS-CoV-2 sequencing. Sci Total Environ 2023; 862:160914. [PMID: 36526211 PMCID: PMC9744676 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) emerged as a reliable strategy both as a surveillance method and a way to provide an overview of the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating among the population. Our objective was to compare two different concentration methods, a well-established aluminum-based procedure (AP) and the commercially available Maxwell® RSC Enviro Wastewater TNA Kit (TNA) for human enteric virus, viral indicators and SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. Additionally, both concentration methods were analyzed for their impact on viral infectivity, and nucleic acids obtained from each method were also evaluated by massive sequencing for SARS-CoV-2. The percentage of SARS-CoV-2 positive samples using the AP method accounted to 100 %, 83.3 %, and 33.3 % depending on the target region while 100 % positivity for these same three target regions was reported using the TNA procedure. The concentrations of norovirus GI, norovirus GII and HEV using the TNA method were significantly greater than for the AP method while no differences were reported for rotavirus, astrovirus, crAssphage and PMMoV. Furthermore, TNA kit in combination with the Artic v4 primer scheme yields the best SARS-CoV-2 sequencing results. Regarding impact on infectivity, the concentration method used by the TNA kit showed near-complete lysis of viruses. Our results suggest that although the performance of the TNA kit was higher than that of the aluminum procedure, both methods are suitable for the analysis of enveloped and non-enveloped viruses in wastewater by molecular methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inés Girón-Guzmán
- Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna 46980, Valencia, Spain
| | - Azahara Díaz-Reolid
- Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna 46980, Valencia, Spain
| | - Enric Cuevas-Ferrando
- Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna 46980, Valencia, Spain
| | - Irene Falcó
- Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna 46980, Valencia, Spain
| | - Pablo Cano-Jiménez
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV-CSIC), C/ Jaume Roig, 11, Valencia 46010, Spain; CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Valencia, Spain
| | - Iñaki Comas
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV-CSIC), C/ Jaume Roig, 11, Valencia 46010, Spain; CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Valencia, Spain
| | - Alba Pérez-Cataluña
- Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna 46980, Valencia, Spain.
| | - Gloria Sánchez
- Department of Preservation and Food Safety Technologies, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, IATA-CSIC, Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna 46980, Valencia, Spain
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Zheng X, Wang M, Deng Y, Xu X, Lin D, Zhang Y, Li S, Ding J, Shi X, Yau CI, Poon LLM, Zhang T. A rapid, high-throughput, and sensitive PEG-precipitation method for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. Water Res 2023; 230:119560. [PMID: 36623382 PMCID: PMC9803703 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The effective application of wastewater surveillance is dependent on testing capacity and sensitivity to obtain high spatial resolution testing results for a timely targeted public health response. To achieve this purpose, the development of rapid, high-throughput, and sensitive virus concentration methods is urgently needed. Various protocols have been developed and implemented in wastewater surveillance networks so far, however, most of them lack the ability to scale up testing capacity or cannot achieve sufficient sensitivity for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA at low prevalence. In the present study, using positive raw wastewater in Hong Kong, a PEG precipitation-based three-step centrifugation method was developed, including low-speed centrifugation for large particles removal and the recovery of viral nucleic acid, and medium-speed centrifugation for the concentration of viral nucleic acid. This method could process over 100 samples by two persons per day to reach the process limit of detection (PLoD) of 3286 copies/L wastewater. Additionally, it was found that the testing capacity could be further increased by decreasing incubation and centrifugation time without significantly influencing the method sensitivity. The entire procedure uses ubiquitous reagents and instruments found in most laboratories to obtain robust testing results. This high-throughput, cost-effective, and sensitive tool will promote the establishment of nearly real-time wastewater surveillance networks for valuable public health information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiawan Zheng
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Mengying Wang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yu Deng
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiaoqing Xu
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Danxi Lin
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yulin Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Shuxian Li
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jiahui Ding
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xianghui Shi
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chung In Yau
- School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Leo L M Poon
- School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Tong Zhang
- Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China; Macau Institute for Applied Research in Medicine and Health, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau SAR, China.
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Almohaimeed HM, Assiri R, Althubaiti EH, Aggad WS, Shaheen S, Shaheen MY, Batarfi MA, Alharbi NA, Alshehri AM, Alkhudhairy BSM. Non-coding RNAs as key players in the neurodegenerative diseases: Multi-platform strategies and approaches for exploring the Genome's dark matter. J Chem Neuroanat 2023; 129:102236. [PMID: 36709005 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2023.102236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 01/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
A growing amount of evidence in the last few years has begun to unravel that non-coding RNAs have a myriad of functions in gene regulation. Intensive investigation on non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has led to exploring their broad role in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) owing to their regulatory role in gene expression. RNA sequencing technologies and transcriptome analysis has unveiled significant dysregulation of ncRNAs attributed to their biogenesis, upregulation, downregulation, aberrant epigenetic regulation, and abnormal transcription. Despite these advances, the understanding of their potential as therapeutic targets and biomarkers underpinning detailed mechanisms is still unknown. Advancements in bioinformatics and molecular technologies have improved our knowledge of the dark matter of the genome in terms of recognition and functional validation. This review aims to shed light on ncRNAs biogenesis, function, and potential role in NDs. Further deepening of their role is provided through a focus on the most recent platforms, experimental approaches, and computational analysis to investigate ncRNAs. Furthermore, this review summarizes and evaluates well-studied miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs concerning their potential role in pathogenesis and use as biomarkers in NDs. Finally, a perspective on the main challenges and novel methods for the future and broad therapeutic use of ncRNAs is offered.
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Adachi Katayama Y, Hayase S, Ando Y, Kuroita T, Okada K, Iwamoto R, Yanagimoto T, Kitajima M, Masago Y. COPMAN: A novel high-throughput and highly sensitive method to detect viral nucleic acids including SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. Sci Total Environ 2023; 856:158966. [PMID: 36162583 PMCID: PMC9502438 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) attracted attention as an objective and comprehensive indicator of community infection that does not require individual inspection. Although several severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection methods from wastewater have been developed, there are obstacles to their social implementation. In this study, we developed the COPMAN (Coagulation and Proteolysis method using Magnetic beads for detection of Nucleic acids in wastewater), an automatable method that can concentrate and detect multiple types of viruses from a limited volume (∼10 mL) of wastewater. The COPMAN consists of a high basicity polyaluminum chloride (PAC) coagulation process, magnetic bead-based RNA purification, and RT-preamplification, followed by qPCR. A series of enzymes exhibiting a high tolerance to PCR inhibitors derived from wastewater was identified and employed in the molecular detection steps in the COPMAN. We compared the detectability of viral RNA from 10-mL samples of virus-spiked (heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and intact RSV) or unspiked wastewater by the COPMAN and other methods (PEG-qPCR, UF-qPCR, and EPISENS-S). The COPMAN was the most efficient for detecting spiked viruses from wastewater, detecting the highest level of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), a typical intrinsic virus in human stool, from wastewater samples. The COPMAN also successfully detected indigenous SARS-CoV-2 RNA from 12 samples of wastewater at concentrations of 2.2 × 104 to 5.4 × 105 copies/L, during initial stages of an infection wave in the right and the left bank of the Sagami River in Japan (0.65 to 11.45 daily reported cases per 100,000 people). These results indicate that the COPMAN is suitable for detection of multiple pathogens from small volume of wastewater in automated stations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuka Adachi Katayama
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Pharmaceutical Research Center, 1-1, Futaba-cho 3-chome, Toyonaka, Osaka 561-0825, Japan
| | - Shin Hayase
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Pharmaceutical Research Center, 1-1, Futaba-cho 3-chome, Toyonaka, Osaka 561-0825, Japan
| | - Yoshinori Ando
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Pharmaceutical Research Center, 1-1, Futaba-cho 3-chome, Toyonaka, Osaka 561-0825, Japan
| | - Tomohiro Kuroita
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Pharmaceutical Research Center, 1-1, Futaba-cho 3-chome, Toyonaka, Osaka 561-0825, Japan; AdvanSentinel Inc., 3-1-8 Doshomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0045, Japan
| | - Kazuya Okada
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Head Office, 3-1-8 Doshomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0045, Japan
| | - Ryo Iwamoto
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Head Office, 3-1-8 Doshomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0045, Japan; AdvanSentinel Inc., 3-1-8 Doshomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0045, Japan
| | - Toru Yanagimoto
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Pharmaceutical Research Center, 1-1, Futaba-cho 3-chome, Toyonaka, Osaka 561-0825, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Yusaku Masago
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Pharmaceutical Research Center, 1-1, Futaba-cho 3-chome, Toyonaka, Osaka 561-0825, Japan.
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21
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Mare R, Mare C, Hadarean A, Hotupan A, Rus T. COVID-19 and Water Variables: Review and Scientometric Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2023; 20:957. [PMID: 36673718 PMCID: PMC9859563 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20020957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
COVID-19 has changed the world since 2020, and the field of water specifically, boosting scientific productivity (in terms of published articles). This paper focuses on the influence of COVID-19 on scientific productivity with respect to four water variables: (i) wastewater, (ii) renewable water resources, (iii) freshwater withdrawal, and (iv) access to improved and safe drinking water. The field's literature was firstly reviewed, and then the maps were built, emphasizing the strong connections between COVID-19 and water-related variables. A total of 94 countries with publications that assess COVID-19 vs. water were considered and evaluated for how they clustered. The final step of the research shows that, on average, scientific productivity on the water topic was mostly conducted in countries with lower COVID-19 infection rates but higher development levels as represented by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and the human development index (HDI). According to the statistical analysis, the water-related variables are highly significant, with positive coefficients. This validates that countries with higher water-related values conducted more research on the relationship with COVID-19. Wastewater and freshwater withdrawal had the highest impact on the scientific productivity with respect to COVID-19. Access to safe drinking water becomes insignificant in the presence of the development parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxana Mare
- Department of Building Services Engineering, Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 128-130 21 Decembrie 1989 Blv., 400604 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Codruța Mare
- Department of Statistics-Forecasts-Mathematics, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babes-Bolyai University, 58-60 Teodor Mihali Str., 400591 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Data Science, Babes-Bolyai University, 68 Avram Iancu Str., 4th Floor, 400083 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Adriana Hadarean
- Department of Building Services Engineering, Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 128-130 21 Decembrie 1989 Blv., 400604 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Anca Hotupan
- Department of Building Services Engineering, Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 128-130 21 Decembrie 1989 Blv., 400604 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Tania Rus
- Department of Building Services Engineering, Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 128-130 21 Decembrie 1989 Blv., 400604 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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22
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Farkas K, Williams R, Alex-Sanders N, Grimsley JMS, Pântea I, Wade MJ, Woodhall N, Jones DL. Wastewater-based monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 at UK airports and its potential role in international public health surveillance. PLOS Glob Public Health 2023; 3:e0001346. [PMID: 36963000 PMCID: PMC10021541 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
It is well established that air travel plays a key role in the global spread of many enteric and respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Even with travel restrictions (e.g. mask wearing, negative COVID-19 test prior to departure), SARS-CoV-2 may be transmitted by asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals carrying the virus. Due to the limitation of current clinical surveillance approaches, complementary methods need to be developed to allow estimation of the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 entry across international borders. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) represents one such approach, allowing the unbiased sampling of SARS-CoV-2 carriage by passenger cohorts entering via airports. In this study, we monitored sewage in samples from terminals (n = 150) and aircraft (n = 32) at three major international airports in the UK for 1-3 weeks in March 2022. As the raw samples were more turbid than typical municipal wastewater, we used beef extract treatment followed by polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation to concentrate viruses, followed by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and a faecal indicator virus, crAssphage. All samples taken from sewers at the arrival terminals of Heathrow and Bristol airports, and 85% of samples taken from sites at Edinburgh airport, were positive for SARS-CoV-2. This suggests a high COVID-19 prevalence among passengers and/or airport staff members. Samples derived from aircraft also showed 93% SARS-CoV-2 positivity. No difference in viral prevalence was found before and after COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted. Our results suggest that WBE is a useful tool for monitoring the global transfer rate of human pathogens and other disease-causing agents across international borders and should form part of wider international efforts to monitor and contain the spread of future disease outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kata Farkas
- Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
- School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel Williams
- Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
| | - Natasha Alex-Sanders
- Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
| | - Jasmine M S Grimsley
- Data, Analytics, and Surveillance Group, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
- The London Data Company, London, United Kingdom
| | - Igor Pântea
- Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew J Wade
- Data, Analytics, and Surveillance Group, UK Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Nick Woodhall
- Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
| | - Davey L Jones
- Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
- Food Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
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23
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Malla B, Thakali O, Shrestha S, Segawa T, Kitajima M, Haramoto E. Application of a high-throughput quantitative PCR system for simultaneous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants and other pathogenic viruses in wastewater. Sci Total Environ 2022; 853:158659. [PMID: 36096223 PMCID: PMC9461275 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are continuously emerging, highlighting the importance of regular surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and other epidemiologically significant pathogenic viruses in the current context. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is expensive, time-consuming, labor-intensive, requires a large reagent volume, and only tests a few targets in a single run. High-throughput qPCR (HT-qPCR) utilizing the Biomark HD system (Fluidigm) can be used as an alternative. This study applied an HT-qPCR to simultaneously detect SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-2 nucleotide substituted RNA, and other pathogenic viruses in wastewater. Wastewater samples were collected from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine facility between October 2020 and February 2021 (n = 4) and from the combined and separated sewer lines of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan, between March and August 2021 (n = 23 each). The samples were analyzed by HT-qPCR using five SARS-CoV-2, nine SARS-CoV-2 spike gene nucleotide substitution-specific, five pathogenic viruses, and three process control assays. All samples from the quarantine facility tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and the nucleotide substitutions N501Y and S69-70 del (Alpha variant) were detected in the December 2020 sample, coinciding with the first clinical case in Japan. Only three WWTP samples were positive when tested with a single SARS-CoV-2 assay, whereas more than eight samples were positive when tested with all assays, indicating that using multiple assays increases the likelihood of detection. The nucleotide substitution L452R (Delta variant) was detected in the WWTP samples of Mie Prefecture in April 2021, but the detection of Delta variant from patients had not been reported until May 2021. Aichi virus 1 and norovirus GII were prevalent in WWTP samples. This study demonstrated that HT-qPCR may be the most time- and cost-efficient method for tracking COVID-19 and broadly monitoring community health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bikash Malla
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Ocean Thakali
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Sadhana Shrestha
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan; Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, United Nations University, 5-53-70 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan
| | - Takahiro Segawa
- Center for Life Science Research, University of Yamanashi, 1110 Shimokato, Chuo, Yamanashi 409-3898, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan.
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24
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Iwamoto R, Yamaguchi K, Arakawa C, Ando H, Haramoto E, Setsukinai KI, Katayama K, Yamagishi T, Sorano S, Murakami M, Kyuwa S, Kobayashi H, Okabe S, Imoto S, Kitajima M. The detectability and removal efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 in a large-scale septic tank of a COVID-19 quarantine facility in Japan. Sci Total Environ 2022; 849:157869. [PMID: 35944642 PMCID: PMC9356757 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is known to be present in sewage, and wastewater-based epidemiology has attracted much attention. However, the physical partitioning of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the removal efficiency of treatment systems require further investigation. This study aimed to investigate the detectability and physical partitioning of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and assess its removal in a large-scale septic tank employing anaerobic, anoxic, and oxic processes in a sequential batch reactor, which was installed in a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine facility. The amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was determined with polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation followed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and the association of SARS-CoV-2 with wastewater solids was evaluated by the effect of filtration prior to PEG precipitation (pre-filtration). The amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected from pre-filtered samples was substantially lower than that of samples without pre-filtration. These results suggest that most SARS-CoV-2 particles in wastewater are associated with the suspended solids excluded by pre-filtration. The removal efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 in the septic tank was evaluated based on the SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in untreated and treated wastewater, which was determined by the detection method optimized in this study. Escherichia coli and pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) were also quantified to validate the wastewater treatment system's performance. The mean log10 reduction values of SARS-CoV-2, E. coli, and PMMoV were 2.47 (range, 2.25-2.68), 2.81 (range, 2.45-3.18), and 0.66 (range, 0.61-0.70), respectively, demonstrating that SARS-CoV-2 removal by the wastewater treatment system was comparable to or better than the removal of fecal indicators. These results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can be readily removed by the septic tank. This is the first study to determine the removal efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 in a facility-level sequencing batch activated sludge system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryo Iwamoto
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., 1-8 Doshomachi 3-Chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 541-0045, Japan; AdvanSentinel Inc., 1-8 Doshomachi 3-Chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 541-0045, Japan
| | - Kiyoshi Yamaguchi
- Division of Clinical Genome Research, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan
| | - Chisato Arakawa
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Hiroki Ando
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, Graduate Faculty of Interdisciplinary Research, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Ken-Ichi Setsukinai
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., 1-8 Doshomachi 3-Chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 541-0045, Japan
| | - Kotoe Katayama
- Human Genome Center, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan
| | - Takuya Yamagishi
- Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Sumire Sorano
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel St., London WC1E 7HT, UK; School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, 1-14 Bunkyomachi, Nagasaki, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan
| | - Michio Murakami
- Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research, Osaka University, 2-8 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Shigeru Kyuwa
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Kobayashi
- Shionogi & Co., Ltd., 1-8 Doshomachi 3-Chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 541-0045, Japan
| | - Satoshi Okabe
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Seiya Imoto
- Human Genome Center, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan.
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25
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Gungordu Er S, Tabish TA, Edirisinghe M, Matharu RK. Antiviral properties of porous graphene, graphene oxide and graphene foam ultrafine fibers against Phi6 bacteriophage. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:1032899. [PMID: 36507513 PMCID: PMC9730705 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1032899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
As the world has experienced in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, viral infections have devastating effects on public health. Personal protective equipment with high antiviral features has become popular among healthcare staff, researchers, immunocompromised people and more to minimize this effect. Graphene and its derivatives have been included in many antimicrobial studies due to their exceptional physicochemical properties. However, scientific studies on antiviral graphene are much more limited than antibacterial and antifungal studies. The aim of this study was to produce nanocomposite fibers with high antiviral properties that can be used for personal protective equipment and biomedical devices. In this work, 10 wt% polycaprolactone-based fibers were prepared with different concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 w/w%) of porous graphene, graphene oxide and graphene foam in acetone by using electrospinning. SEM, FTIR and XRD characterizations were applied to understand the structure of fibers and the presence of materials. According to SEM results, the mean diameters of the porous graphene, graphene oxide and graphene foam nanofibers formed were around 390, 470, and 520 nm, respectively. FTIR and XRD characterization results for 2 w/w% concentration nanofibers demonstrated the presence of graphene oxide, porous graphene and graphene foam nanomaterials in the fiber. The antiviral properties of the formed fibers were tested against Pseudomonas phage Phi6. According to the results, concentration-dependent antiviral activity was observed, and the strongest viral inhibition graphene oxide-loaded nanofibers were 33.08 ± 1.21% at the end of 24 h.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seda Gungordu Er
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tanveer A. Tabish
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford Begbroke Science Park, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mohan Edirisinghe
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rupy Kaur Matharu
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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26
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Angga MS, Malla B, Raya S, Kitano A, Xie X, Saitoh H, Ohnishi N, Haramoto E. Development of a magnetic nanoparticle-based method for concentrating SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Sci Total Environ 2022; 848:157613. [PMID: 35901898 PMCID: PMC9310541 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Several virus concentration methods have been developed to increase the detection sensitivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater, as part of applying wastewater-based epidemiology. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation method, a method widely used for concentrating viruses in wastewater, has some limitations, such as long processing time. In this study, Pegcision, a PEG-based method using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), was applied to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, with several modifications to increase its sensitivity and throughput. An enveloped virus surrogate, Pseudomonas phage φ6, and a non-enveloped virus surrogate, coliphage MS2, were seeded into wastewater samples and quantified using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction to assess the recovery performance of the Pegcision. Neither increasing MNP concentration nor reducing the reaction time to 10 min affected the recovery, while adding polyacrylic acid as a polyanion improved the detection sensitivity. The performance of the Pegcision was further compared to that of the PEG precipitation method based on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and surrogate viruses, including indigenous pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), in wastewater samples (n = 27). The Pegcision showed recovery of 14.1 ± 6.3 % and 1.4 ± 1.0 % for φ6 and MS2, respectively, while the PEG precipitation method showed recovery of 20.4 ± 20.2 % and 18.4 ± 21.9 % (n = 27 each). Additionally, comparable PMMoV concentrations were observed between the Pegcision (7.9 ± 0.3 log copies/L) and PEG precipitation methods (8.0 ± 0.2 log copies/L) (P > 0.05) (n = 27). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was successfully detected in 11 (41 %) each of 27 wastewater samples using the Pegcision and PEG precipitation methods. The Pegcision showed comparable performance with the PEG precipitation method for SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration, suggesting its applicability as a virus concentration method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Made Sandhyana Angga
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Bikash Malla
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Sunayana Raya
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Ayame Kitano
- Yokohama R&D Center, JNC Corporation, 5-1 Okawa, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8605, Japan.
| | - Xiaomao Xie
- Yokohama R&D Center, JNC Corporation, 5-1 Okawa, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8605, Japan.
| | - Hiroshi Saitoh
- Yokohama R&D Center, JNC Corporation, 5-1 Okawa, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8605, Japan.
| | - Noriyuki Ohnishi
- Corporate Research and Development Division, JNC Corporation, 5-1 Goikaigan, Ichihara, Chiba 290-8551, Japan.
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan.
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27
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West NW, Vasquez AA, Bahmani A, Khan MF, Hartrick J, Turner CL, Shuster W, Ram JL. Sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 molecular markers in urban community sewersheds using automated viral RNA purification and digital droplet PCR. Sci Total Environ 2022; 847:157547. [PMID: 35872187 PMCID: PMC9303066 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a strategy to identify, locate, and manage outbreaks of COVID-19, and thereby possibly prevent surges in cases, which overwhelm local to global health care networks. The WBE process is based on assaying municipal wastewater for molecular markers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Standard processes for purifying viral RNA from municipal wastewater are often time-consuming and require the handling of large quantities of wastewater, negatively affecting throughput, timely reporting, and safety. We demonstrate here an automated, faster system to purify viral RNA from smaller volumes of wastewater but with increased sensitivity for detection of SARS-CoV-2 markers. We document the effectiveness of this new approach by way of comparison to the PEG/NaCl/Qiagen method prescribed by the State of Michigan for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring and show its application to several Detroit sewersheds. Specifically, compared to the PEG/NaCl/Qiagen method, viral RNA purification using the PerkinElmer Chemagic™ 360 lowered handling time, decreased the amount of wastewater required by ten-fold, increased the amount of RNA isolated per μl of final elution product by approximately five-fold, and effectively removed ddPCR inhibitors from most sewershed samples. For detection of markers on the borderline of viral detectability, we found that use of the Chemagic™ 360 enabled the measurement of viral markers in a significant number of samples for which the result with the PEG/NaCl/Qiagen method was below the level of detectability. The improvement in detectability of the viral markers might be particularly important for early warning to public health authorities at the beginning of an outbreak. Applied to sewersheds in Detroit, the technique enabled more sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 markers with good correlation between wastewater signals and COVID-19 cases in the sewersheds. We also discuss advantages and disadvantages of several automated RNA purification systems, made by Promega, PerkinElmer, and ThermoFisher.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas W West
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Adrian A Vasquez
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
| | - Azadeh Bahmani
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Mohammed F Khan
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | | | | | - William Shuster
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
| | - Jeffrey L Ram
- Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
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28
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Zhan Q, Babler KM, Sharkey ME, Amirali A, Beaver CC, Boone MM, Comerford S, Cooper D, Cortizas EM, Currall BB, Foox J, Grills GS, Kobetz E, Kumar N, Laine J, Lamar WE, Mantero AM, Mason CE, Reding BD, Robertson M, Roca MA, Ryon K, Schürer SC, Shukla BS, Solle NS, Stevenson M, Tallon Jr JJ, Thomas C, Thomas T, Vidović D, Williams SL, Yin X, Solo-Gabriele HM. Relationships between SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater and COVID-19 Clinical Cases and Hospitalizations, with and without Normalization against Indicators of Human Waste. ACS ES T Water 2022; 2:1992-2003. [PMID: 36398131 PMCID: PMC9664448 DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.2c00045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater has been used to track community infections of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), providing critical information for public health interventions. Since levels in wastewater are dependent upon human inputs, we hypothesize that tracking infections can be improved by normalizing wastewater concentrations against indicators of human waste [Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (PMMoV), β-2 Microglobulin (B2M), and fecal coliform]. In this study, we analyzed SARS-CoV-2 and indicators of human waste in wastewater from two sewersheds of different scales: a University campus and a wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater data were combined with complementary COVID-19 case tracking to evaluate the efficiency of wastewater surveillance for forecasting new COVID-19 cases and, for the larger scale, hospitalizations. Results show that the normalization of SARS-CoV-2 levels by PMMoV and B2M resulted in improved correlations with COVID-19 cases for campus data using volcano second generation (V2G)-qPCR chemistry (r s = 0.69 without normalization, r s = 0.73 with normalization). Mixed results were obtained for normalization by PMMoV for samples collected at the community scale. Overall benefits from normalizing with measures of human waste depend upon qPCR chemistry and improves with smaller sewershed scale. We recommend further studies that evaluate the efficacy of additional normalization targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingyu Zhan
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Kristina M. Babler
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Mark E. Sharkey
- Department
of Medicine, University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Ayaaz Amirali
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Cynthia C. Beaver
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Melinda M. Boone
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Samuel Comerford
- Department
of Medicine, University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Daniel Cooper
- DataGrade
Solutions, LLC, Miami, Florida 33173, United
States
| | - Elena M. Cortizas
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Benjamin B. Currall
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Jonathan Foox
- Department
of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell
Medical College, New York
City, New York 10021, United States
| | - George S. Grills
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Erin Kobetz
- Department
of Medicine, University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Naresh Kumar
- Department
of Public Health Sciences, University of
Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Jennifer Laine
- Environmental
Health and Safety, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Walter E. Lamar
- Facilities
Safety & Compliance, University of Miami
Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Alejandro M.A. Mantero
- Department
of Public Health Sciences, University of
Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Christopher E. Mason
- Department
of Physiology and Biophysics and the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative
Prediction, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, New York 10021, United States
| | - Brian D. Reding
- Environmental
Health and Safety, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Maria Robertson
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Matthew A. Roca
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Krista Ryon
- Department
of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell
Medical College, New York
City, New York 10021, United States
| | - Stephan C. Schürer
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
- Department
of Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicines, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
- Institute
for Data Science & Computing, University
of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United
States
| | - Bhavarth S. Shukla
- Department
of Medicine, University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Natasha Schaefer Solle
- Department
of Medicine, University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Mario Stevenson
- Department
of Medicine, University of Miami Miller
School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - John J. Tallon Jr
- Facilities
and Operations, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Collette Thomas
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Tori Thomas
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Dušica Vidović
- Department
of Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicines, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Sion L. Williams
- Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center, University
of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, United States
| | - Xue Yin
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
| | - Helena M. Solo-Gabriele
- Department
of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
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29
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Peters DL, Harris G, Davis CM, Dennis JJ, Chen W. Bacteriophage Isolation, Purification, and Characterization Techniques Against Ubiquitous Opportunistic Pathogens. Curr Protoc 2022; 2:e594. [PMID: 36383057 DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Healthcare-associated infection with "ESKAPE" pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) is a global health crisis due to their extensive intrinsic antibiotic resistance and the ability to quickly acquire resistance determinants. Alternative treatment options are required to combat this crisis, and one possibility is the use of bacteriophages, or viruses that strictly infect the pathogenic bacteria. Currently, there is a renaissance in research and development into the use of phages to target multi-, extensively, and pan-resistant bacterial infections in humans, known as phage therapy. Using A. baumannii as an example, this article describes the isolation and purification of bacteriophages from sewage and soil samples, as well as general methods used in phage research such as precipitation of phages using polyethylene glycol, host range analysis, single-cell burst size determination, DNA extraction, and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. © 2022 National Research Council Canada. Current Protocols © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry. Basic Protocol 1: Isolation of bacteriophages against A. baumannii from sewage samples Alternate Protocol 1: Isolation of bacteriophages against A. baumannii from soil samples Support Protocol 1: Titering a bacteriophage stock Basic Protocol 2: Purification of phage to an axenic working stock Support Protocol 2: Liquid propagation of bacteriophage Basic Protocol 3: Host range analysis using the spot plate method Basic Protocol 4: Single burst size analysis Alternate Protocol 2: One-step growth curve Basic Protocol 5: Precipitation of bacteriophage using PEG 6000 Basic Protocol 6: DNA extraction from dsDNA bacteriophages Basic Protocol 7: Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of novel phage genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle L Peters
- Human Health Therapeutics (HHT), National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Greg Harris
- Human Health Therapeutics (HHT), National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Carly M Davis
- Human Health Therapeutics (HHT), National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jonathan J Dennis
- Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Wangxue Chen
- Human Health Therapeutics (HHT), National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
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30
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Sabar MA, Honda R, Haramoto E. CrAssphage as an indicator of human-fecal contamination in water environment and virus reduction in wastewater treatment. Water Res 2022; 221:118827. [PMID: 35820313 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 07/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Viral indicators of human-fecal contamination in wastewaters and environmental waters have been getting much attention in the past decade. Cross-assembly phage (crAssphage) is the most abundant DNA virus in human feces. Recently, the usefulness of crAssphage as a microbial source tracking and water quality monitoring tool for human-fecal contamination has been highlighted. Here, we conducted a comprehensive review on crAssphage in water, focusing on detection methodology, concentration range in various waters and wastewaters, specificity to human-fecal contamination, and reduction in wastewater treatment systems. This review highlights that crAssphage is globally distributed in wastewaters and various fecal-contaminated water bodies at high concentrations without seasonal fluctuations. CrAssphage is highly specific to human-fecal contamination and is rarely found in animal feces. It also has a good potential as a performance indicator to ensure virus reduction in wastewater treatment systems. Accordingly, crAssphage could be an effective tool for monitoring of human-fecal contamination and potential presence of fecal pathogenic microbes in environmental waters. Bridging the research gaps highlighted in this review would make crAssphage a powerful tool to support the control of water-related health risks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ryo Honda
- Faculty of Geoscience and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan.
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Graduate Faculty of Interdisciplinary Research, University of Yamanashi, Japan
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31
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Mailepessov D, Arivalan S, Kong M, Griffiths J, Low SL, Chen H, Hapuarachchi HC, Gu X, Lee WL, Alm EJ, Thompson J, Wuertz S, Gin K, Ng LC, Wong JCC. Development of an efficient wastewater testing protocol for high-throughput country-wide SARS-CoV-2 monitoring. Sci Total Environ 2022; 826:154024. [PMID: 35217043 PMCID: PMC8860745 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based surveillance has been widely used as a non-intrusive tool to monitor population-level transmission of COVID-19. Although various approaches are available to concentrate viruses from wastewater samples, scalable methods remain limited. Here, we sought to identify and evaluate SARS-CoV-2 virus concentration protocols for high-throughput wastewater testing. A total of twelve protocols for polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and four protocols for ultrafiltration-based approaches were evaluated across two phases. The first phase entailed an initial evaluation using a small sample set, while the second phase further evaluated five protocols using wastewater samples of varying SARS-CoV-2 concentrations. Permutations in the pre-concentration, virus concentration and RNA extraction steps were evaluated. Among PEG-based methods, SARS-CoV-2 virus recovery was optimal with 1) the removal of debris prior to processing, 2) 2 h to 24 h incubation with 8% PEG at 4 °C, 3) 4000 xg or 14,000 xg centrifugation, and 4) a column-based RNA extraction method, yielding virus recovery of 42.4-52.5%. Similarly, the optimal protocol for ultrafiltration included 1) the removal of debris prior to processing, 2) ultrafiltration, and 3) a column-based RNA extraction method, yielding a recovery of 38.2%. This study also revealed that SARS-CoV-2 RNA recovery for samples with higher virus concentration were less sensitive to changes in the PEG method, but permutations in the PEG protocol could significantly impact virus yields when wastewater samples with lower SARS-CoV-2 RNA were used. Although both PEG precipitation and ultrafiltration methods resulted in similar SARS-CoV-2 RNA recoveries, the former method is more cost-effective while the latter method provided operational efficiency as it required a shorter turn-around-time (PEG precipitation, 9-23 h; Ultrafiltration, 5 h). The decision on which method to adopt will thus depend on the use-case for wastewater testing, and the need for cost-effectiveness, sensitivity, operational feasibility and scalability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diyar Mailepessov
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore
| | - Sathish Arivalan
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore
| | - Marcella Kong
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore
| | - Jane Griffiths
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore
| | - Swee Ling Low
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore
| | - Hongjie Chen
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore 138602, Singapore; Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore 138602, Singapore
| | | | - Xiaoqiong Gu
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore 138602, Singapore; Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore 138602, Singapore
| | - Wei Lin Lee
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore 138602, Singapore; Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore 138602, Singapore
| | - Eric J Alm
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, Singapore 138602, Singapore; Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore 138602, Singapore; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Janelle Thompson
- Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore 138602, Singapore; Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551, Singapore; Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459, Singapore
| | - Stefan Wuertz
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551, Singapore; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Karina Gin
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore 117576, Singapore
| | - Lee Ching Ng
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore; School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
| | - Judith Chui Ching Wong
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way #06-05/08, Helios Block, Singapore 138667, Singapore.
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32
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Tandukar S, Sthapit N, Thakali O, Malla B, Sherchan SP, Shakya BM, Shrestha LP, Sherchand JB, Joshi DR, Lama B, Haramoto E. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, river water, and hospital wastewater of Nepal. Sci Total Environ 2022; 824:153816. [PMID: 35157870 PMCID: PMC8832950 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 01/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The applicability of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been extensively studied throughout the world with remarkable findings. This study reports the presence and reduction of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of Nepal, along with river water, hospital wastewater (HWW), and wastewater from sewer lines collected between July 2020 and February 2021. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 50%, 54%, 100%, and 100% of water samples from WWTPs, river hospitals, and sewer lines, respectively, by at least one of four quantitative PCR assays tested (CDC-N1, CDC-N2, NIID_2019-nCOV_N, and N_Sarbeco). The CDC-N2 assay detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the highest number of raw influent samples of both WWTPs. The highest concentration was observed for an influent sample of WWTP A (5.5 ± 1.0 log10 genome copies/L) by the N_Sarbeco assay. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 47% (16/34) of the total treated effluents of WWTPs, indicating that biological treatments installed at the tested WWTPs are not enough to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 RNA. One influent sample was positive for N501Y mutation using the mutation-specific qPCR, highlighting a need for further typing of water samples to detect Variants of Concern. Furthermore, crAssphage-normalized SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in raw wastewater did not show any significant association with the number of new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the whole district where the WWTPs were located, suggesting a need for further studies focusing on suitability of viral as well as biochemical markers as a population normalizing factor. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA before, after, and during the peaking in number of COVID-19 cases suggests that WBE is a useful tool for COVID-19 case estimation in developing countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarmila Tandukar
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan; Policy Research Institute, Sano Gaucharan, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | - Niva Sthapit
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Ocean Thakali
- Department of Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Bikash Malla
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Samendra P Sherchan
- Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2100, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; Department of Biology, Morgan State University, 1700 East Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA
| | - Bijay Man Shakya
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Laxman P Shrestha
- Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu 1524, Nepal
| | - Jeevan B Sherchand
- Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu 1524, Nepal
| | - Dev Raj Joshi
- Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal
| | - Bhupendra Lama
- Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan.
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Alamin M, Tsuji S, Hata A, Hara-Yamamura H, Honda R. Selection of surrogate viruses for process control in detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Sci Total Environ 2022; 823:153737. [PMID: 35149069 PMCID: PMC8824713 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Since SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater is often present at low concentration or under detection limit, ensuring the reliability of detection processes using appropriate process controls is essential. The objective of this study was to evaluate applicability and limitations of candidate surrogate viruses as process controls under combinations of different virus concentration and RNA extraction methods. Detection efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 spiked in wastewater was compared with those of candidate surrogate viruses of bacteriophage ϕ6, pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV), F-specific coliphage (F-phage), and murine norovirus (MNV). After inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and ϕ6 were spiked in two different wastewaters, the viruses in solid and liquid fractions of wastewater were concentrated by centrifuge and polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, respectively. Viral RNA was extracted by using QIAamp Viral RNA Mini Kit and 3 other commercially available extraction kits, then quantified by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR using CDCN1 assay. Regardless of extraction kits, SARS-CoV-2 was consistently detected with good efficiency from both liquid (11-200%) and solid fractions (7.1-93%). Among the candidate process controls, PMMoV was widely detected at good efficiencies from both liquid and solid fractions regardless of selection of RNA extraction kits. F-phage and MNV also showed good detection efficiencies in most combinations of wastewater fractions and RNA extraction kits. An enveloped virus ɸ6 was found often undetected or to have very low detection efficiency (0.1-4.2%) even when SARS-CoV-2 spiked in wastewater was detected with good efficiency. Consequently, PMMoV is widely applicable as process control for detection of SARS-CoV-2 either in liquid fractions concentrated by PEG precipitation, or in solid fractions concentrated by centrifuge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Alamin
- Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Japan
| | - Shohei Tsuji
- School of Environmental Design, Kanazawa University, Japan
| | - Akihiko Hata
- Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Japan
| | | | - Ryo Honda
- Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Kanazawa University, Japan.
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Almatroudi A. Non-Coding RNAs in Tuberculosis Epidemiology: Platforms and Approaches for Investigating the Genome's Dark Matter. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23084430. [PMID: 35457250 PMCID: PMC9024992 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23084430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
A growing amount of information about the different types, functions, and roles played by non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) is becoming available, as more and more research is done. ncRNAs have been identified as potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), because they may be essential regulators of the gene network. ncRNA profiling and sequencing has recently revealed significant dysregulation in tuberculosis, primarily due to aberrant processes of ncRNA synthesis, including amplification, deletion, improper epigenetic regulation, or abnormal transcription. Despite the fact that ncRNAs may have a role in TB characteristics, the detailed mechanisms behind these occurrences are still unknown. The dark matter of the genome can only be explored through the development of cutting-edge bioinformatics and molecular technologies. In this review, ncRNAs' synthesis and functions are discussed in detail, with an emphasis on the potential role of ncRNAs in tuberculosis. We also focus on current platforms, experimental strategies, and computational analyses to explore ncRNAs in TB. Finally, a viewpoint is presented on the key challenges and novel techniques for the future and for a wide-ranging therapeutic application of ncRNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Almatroudi
- Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
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35
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Jiang SC, Bischel HN, Goel R, Rosso D, Sherchan S, Whiteson KL, Yan T, Solo-Gabriele HM. Integrating Virus Monitoring Strategies for Safe Non-potable Water Reuse. Water (Basel) 2022; 14:1187. [PMID: 37622131 PMCID: PMC10448804 DOI: 10.3390/w14081187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater reclamation and reuse have the potential to supplement water supplies, offering resiliency in times of drought and helping meet increased water demands associated with population growth. Non-potable water reuse represents the largest potential reuse market. Yet economic constraints for new water reuse infrastructure and safety concerns due to microbial water quality, and especially viral pathogen exposure, limit widespread implementation of water reuse. Cost-effective, real-time methods to measure or indicate viral quality of recycled water would do much to instill greater confidence in the practice. This manuscript discusses advancements in monitoring and modeling of viral health risks in the context of water reuse. First, we describe the current wastewater reclamation processes and treatment technologies with an emphasis on virus removal. Second, we review technologies for the measurement of viruses, both culture- and molecular-based, along with their advantages and disadvantages. We introduce promising viral surrogates and specific pathogenic viruses that can serve as indicators of viral risk for water reuse. We suggest metagenomic analyses for viral screening and flow cytometry for quantification of virus-like particles as new approaches to complement more traditional methods. Third, we describe modeling to assess health risks through quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs), the most common strategy to couple data on virus concentrations with human exposure scenarios. We then explore the potential of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to incorporate suites of data from wastewater treatment processes, water quality parameters, and viral surrogates. We recommend ANNs as a means to utilize existing water quality data, alongside new complementary measures of viral quality, to achieve cost-effective strategies to assess risks associated with infectious human viruses in recycled water. Given the review, we conclude that technologies are ready for identifying and implementing viral surrogates for health risk reduction in the next decade. Incorporating modeling with monitoring data would likely result in more robust assessment of water reuse risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunny C Jiang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Water-Energy Nexus Center, 844G Engineering Tower, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2175
| | - Heather N Bischel
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis CA 95616
| | - Ramesh Goel
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
| | - Diego Rosso
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Water-Energy Nexus Center, 844G Engineering Tower, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2175
| | - Samendra Sherchan
- Department of Environmental Health sciences, Tulane university, New Orleans, LA 70112
| | - Katrine L Whiteson
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Tao Yan
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI 96822, USA
| | - Helena M Solo-Gabriele
- Department of Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA
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Pellegrinelli L, Castiglioni S, Cocuzza C, Bertasi B, Primache V, Schiarea S, Salmoiraghi G, Franzetti A, Musumeci R, Tilola M, Galuppini E, Bertanza G, Callegari M, Stefani F, Turolla A, Ammoni E, Cereda D, Pariani E, Binda S; the WBE Study Group. Evaluation of Pre-Analytical and Analytical Methods for Detecting SARS-CoV-2 in Municipal Wastewater Samples in Northern Italy. Water 2022; 14:833. [DOI: 10.3390/w14050833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
(1) Background: The surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in urban wastewaters allows one to monitor the presence of the virus in a population, including asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals, capturing the real circulation of this pathogen. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of different pre-analytical and analytical methods for identifying the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated municipal wastewaters samples by conducting an inter-laboratory proficiency test. (2) Methods: three methods of concentration, namely, (A) Dextran and PEG-6000 two-phase separation, (B) PEG-8000 precipitation without a chloroform purification step and (C) PEG-8000 precipitation with a chloroform purification step were combined with three different protocols of RNA extraction by using commercial kits and were tested by using two primers/probe sets in three different master mixes. (3) Results: PEG-8000 precipitation without chloroform treatment showed the best performance in the SARS-CoV-2 recovery; no major differences were observed among the protocol of RNA extraction and the one-step real-time RT-PCR master mix kits. The highest analytic sensitivity was observed by using primers/probe sets targeting the N1/N3 fragments of SARS-CoV-2. (4) Conclusions: PEG-8000 precipitation in combination with real-time RT-PCR targeting the N gene (two fragments) was the best performing workflow for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in municipal wastewaters.
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Hewitt J, Trowsdale S, Armstrong BA, Chapman JR, Carter KM, Croucher DM, Trent CR, Sim RE, Gilpin BJ. Sensitivity of wastewater-based epidemiology for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a low prevalence setting. Water Res 2022; 211:118032. [PMID: 35042077 PMCID: PMC8720482 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.118032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2021] [Revised: 12/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
To assist public health responses to COVID-19, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is being utilised internationally to monitor SARS-CoV-2 infections at the community level. However, questions remain regarding the sensitivity of WBE and its use in low prevalence settings. In this study, we estimated the total number of COVID-19 cases required for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater. To do this, we leveraged a unique situation where, over a 4-month period, all symptomatic and asymptomatic cases, in a population of approximately 120,000, were precisely known and mainly located in a single managed isolation and quarantine facility (MIQF) building. From 9 July to 6 November 2020, 24-hr composite wastewater samples (n = 113) were collected daily from the sewer outside the MIQF, and from the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located 5 km downstream. New daily COVID-19 cases at the MIQF ranged from 0 to 17, and for most of the study period there were no cases outside the MIQF identified. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 54.0% (61/113) at the WWTP, compared to 95.6% (108/113) at the MIQF. We used logistic regression to estimate the shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA into wastewater based on four infectious shedding models. With a total of 5 and 10 COVID-19 infectious cases per 100,000 population (0.005% and 0.01% prevalence) the predicated probability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection at the WWTP was estimated to be 28 and 41%, respectively. When a proportional shedding model was used, this increased to 58% and 87% for 5 and 10 cases, respectively. In other words, when 10 individuals were actively shedding SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a catchment of 100,000 individuals, there was a high likelihood of detecting viral RNA in wastewater. SARS-CoV-2 RNA detections at the WWTP were associated with increasing COVID-19 cases. Our results show that WBE provides a reliable and sensitive platform for detecting infections at the community scale, even when case prevalence is low, and can be of use as an early warning system for community outbreaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanne Hewitt
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd, 34 Kenepuru Drive, Porirua, 5240, New Zealand.
| | - Sam Trowsdale
- School of Environment, University of Auckland, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - Bridget A Armstrong
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd, 27 Creyke Road, Ilam, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
| | - Joanne R Chapman
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd, 34 Kenepuru Drive, Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Kirsten M Carter
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd, 34 Kenepuru Drive, Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Dawn M Croucher
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd, 34 Kenepuru Drive, Porirua, 5240, New Zealand
| | - Cassandra R Trent
- Watercare Services Limited, 52 Aintree Ave, Airport Oaks, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Rosemary E Sim
- Watercare Services Limited, 52 Aintree Ave, Airport Oaks, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Brent J Gilpin
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd, 27 Creyke Road, Ilam, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
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Zhu Y, Oishi W, Maruo C, Bandara S, Lin M, Saito M, Kitajima M, Sano D. COVID-19 case prediction via wastewater surveillance in a low-prevalence urban community: a modeling approach. J Water Health 2022; 20:459-470. [PMID: 36366998 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2022.183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Estimating and predicting the epidemic size from wastewater surveillance results remains challenging for the practical implementation of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). In this study, by employing a highly sensitive detection method, we documented the time series of SARS-CoV-2 RNA occurrence in the wastewater influent from an urban community with a 360,000 population in Japan, from August 2020 to February 2021. The detection frequency of the viral RNA increased during the outbreak events of COVID-19 and the highest viral RNA concentration was recorded at the beginning of January 2021, amid the most serious outbreak event during the study period. We found that: (1) direct back-calculation still suffers from great uncertainty dominated by inconsistent detection and the varying gap between the observed wastewater viral load and the estimated patient viral load, and (2) the detection frequency correlated well with reported cases and the prediction of the latter can be carried out via data-driven modeling methods. Our results indicate that wastewater virus occurrence can contribute to epidemic surveillance in ways more than back-calculation, which may spawn future wastewater surveillance implementations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Zhu
- Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan E-mail: ; These authors contributed equally to this work
| | - Wakana Oishi
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan; These authors contributed equally to this work
| | - Chikako Maruo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan
| | - Sewwandi Bandara
- Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan E-mail:
| | - Mu Lin
- Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan E-mail:
| | - Mayuko Saito
- Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Daisuke Sano
- Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan E-mail: ; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-06, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8597, Japan; Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 457-4 Kamigamo Motoyama, Kita Ward, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
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