Levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Sewage Rise with COVID-19 Cases
Scientists have detected RNA from the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in the feces of people with COVID-19. So it stands to reason that the viral RNA could end up in city sewage, where it could be used to monitor prevalence of the disease. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters have detected rising SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in sewage from several cities in the Netherlands at early stages of the pandemic.Analysis of samples from wastewater treatment plants (an example of which is shown above) detected rising SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in sewage from the Netherlands at early stages of the pandemic.
Credit: Daniel Jedzura/Shutterstock.com
Although infectious SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in stool samples, the virus spreads primarily through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, laughs, speaks or breathes, according to recent studies. However, if the new coronavirus is present at high levels in sewage at treatment plants, it could pose risks to workers at the facilities. Gertjan Medema and colleagues wanted to see if they could detect SARS-CoV-2 in the domestic wastewater of cities in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.
As the new coronavirus took hold in other parts of the world, the researchers collected sewage samples from wastewater treatment plants that serve six cities in the Netherlands to see if the virus could be detected in this way. Samples were taken 3 weeks before the first reported COVID-19 case in the Netherlands, and then at 1, 2.5 and 4 weeks after the first case. The team measured SARS-CoV-2 levels in the sewage using a technique called quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
The authors acknowledge funding from the KWR Water Research Institute.
American Chemical Society
Publication: “Presence of SARS-Coronavirus-2 RNA in Sewage and Correlation with Reported COVID-19 Prevalence in the Early Stage of the Epidemic in the Netherlands”
Gertjan Medema, Leo Heijnen, Goffe Elsinga, Ronald Italiaander, Anke Brouwer. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2020; DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00357
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