Abstract
Targeted wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been proposed by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Wastewater Surveillance System as a complementary approach to clinical surveillance to detect the presence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at high-density facilities and institutions such as university campuses, nursing homes, and correctional facilities. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of targeted wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA together with individual-level testing for outbreak mitigation on a university campus during Fall 2020 semester. Wastewater samples (n = 117) were collected weekly from manholes or sewer cleanouts that receive wastewater inputs from dormitories, community-use buildings, and a COVID-19 isolation dormitory. Quantitative RT-PCR N1 and N2 assays were used to measure SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid genes in wastewater. Due to varying human waste input in different buildings, pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV) RNA was also measured in all samples and used to normalize SARS-CoV-2 N1 and N2 RNA wastewater concentrations. In this study, temporal trends of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples mirrored trends in COVID-19 cases detected on campus. Normalizing SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations using human fecal indicator, PMMV enhanced the correlation between N1 and N2 gene abundances in wastewater with COVID-19 cases. N1 and N2 genes were significant predictors of COVID-19 cases in dormitories, and the N2 gene was significantly correlated with the number of detected COVID-19 cases in dormitories. By implementing several public health surveillance programs include targeted wastewater surveillance, individual-level testing, contact tracing, and quarantine/isolation facilities, university health administrators could act decisively during an outbreak on campus, resulting in rapid decline of newly detected COVID-19 cases. Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 is a proactive outbreak monitoring tool for university campuses seeking to continue higher education practices in person during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19; Outbreak mitigation; SARS-CoV-2; Targeted wastewater surveillance; University campus; Wastewater-based epidemiology.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Wastewater-based epidemiology, Outbreak mitigation, Targeted wastewater surveillance, University campus, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, public health, Coronavirus disease 2019, Efficacy, coronavirus, Epidemiology, COVID-19 pandemic, Contact tracing, prevention, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, virus, RNA, wastewater, Health, Surveillance, outbreak, disease control, Isolation, Control, Mild, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, higher education, predictor, United States, nursing homes, correlation, university, Concentration, COVID-19 cases, Campus, fecal, complementary, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Quantitative RT-PCR, COVID-19 case, center, SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, N1 and N2, high-density, System, approach, concentrations, SARS-CoV-2 N1, resulting, detect, collected, significantly, include, the United State, evaluated, were used, correlated, receive, seeking, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19 outbreak, Surveillance,