Abstract
The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater has been reported as a result of fecal shedding of infected individuals. In this study, the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was explored in primary-treated wastewater from two municipal wastewater treatment plants in Quintana Roo, Mexico, along with groundwater from sinkholes, a household well, and submarine groundwater discharges. Physicochemical variables were obtained in situ, and coliphage densities were determined. Three virus concentration methods based on adsorption-elution and sequential filtration were used followed by RNA isolation. Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 was done by RT-qPCR using the CDC 2020 assay, 2019-nCoV_N1 and 2019-nCoV_N2. The Pepper mild mottle virus, one of the most abundant RNA viruses in wastewater was quantified by RT-qPCR and compared to SARS-CoV-2 concentrations. The use of three combined virus concentration methods together with two qPCR assays allowed the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 58% of the wastewater samples analyzed, whereas none of the groundwater samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater were from 1.8 × 10 3 to 7.5 × 10 3 genome copies per liter (GC l -1 ), using the N1 RT-qPCR assay, and from 2.4 × 10 2 to 5.9 × 10 3 GC l -1 using the N2 RT-qPCR assay. Based on PMMoV prevalence detected in all wastewater and groundwater samples tested, the three viral concentration methods used could be successfully applied for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in further studies. This study represents the first detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in southeast Mexico and provides a baseline for developing a wastewater-based epidemiology approach in the area.
Keywords: COVID-19; Groundwater; SARS-CoV-2; Viral indicators; Wastewater.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, wastewater, Groundwater, Viral indicators, 【초록키워드】 Treatment, coronavirus, Epidemiology, Genome, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, virus, RNA, Prevalence, RT-qPCR, wastewater, CDC, household, qPCR, Mild, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, RNA virus, plant, SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection, Concentration, Groundwater, fecal, followed by, Quintana Roo, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, infected individuals, positive, qPCR assay, variable, filtration, approach, concentrations, RNA isolation, Occurrence, tested, analyzed, reported, applied, provide, were used, quantified, was done, baseline,