Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) and Viral Detection in Polluted Surface Water: A Valuable Tool for COVID-19 Surveillance—A Brief Review

Maria de Lourdes Aguiar-Oliveira, Aline Campos, Aline R. Matos, Caroline Rigotto, Adriana Sotero-Martins, Paulo F. P. Teixeira and Marilda M. Siqueira
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Maria de Lourdes Aguiar-Oliveira: Laboratory of Respiratory Viruses and Measles, IOC, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation-RJ, National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and COVID-19 for the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) and World Health Organization (WHO), Av. Brasil, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro CEP 21040-360, Brazil
Aline Campos: State Center for Health Surveillance, Rio Grande do Sul State Department of Health. Av. Ipiranga, 5400, Porto Alegre CEP 90610-000, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Aline R. Matos: Laboratory of Respiratory Viruses and Measles, IOC, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation-RJ, National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and COVID-19 for the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) and World Health Organization (WHO), Av. Brasil, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro CEP 21040-360, Brazil
Caroline Rigotto: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Feevale University, ERS-239, 2755, Novo Hamburgo CEP 93525-075, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Adriana Sotero-Martins: Department of Sanitation and Environmental Health, National School of Public Health Sergio Arouca (ENSP), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation-RJ, Av. Brasil, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro CEP 21040-360, Brazil
Paulo F. P. Teixeira: Former World Health Organization WHO/PAHO Regional Advisor on Water and Sanitation, Environmental Health, Porto Alegre CEP 90035-002, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Marilda M. Siqueira: Laboratory of Respiratory Viruses and Measles, IOC, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation-RJ, National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and COVID-19 for the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) and World Health Organization (WHO), Av. Brasil, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro CEP 21040-360, Brazil

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Disease clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic to severe multiple organ damage. SARS-CoV-2 uses ACE2 as a cellular receptor, which is abundantly expressed in the small intestine, allowing viral replication in the gastrointestinal tract. Viral RNA has been detected in the stool of COVID-19 patients and viable viruses had been isolated in some of these samples. Thus, a putative role of SARS-CoV-2 fecal-oral transmission has been argued. SARS-CoV-2 is shed in human excreta and further disposed in the sewerage or in the environment, in poor basic sanitation settings. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a valuable population level approach for monitoring viral pathogens and has been successfully used in different contexts. This review summarizes the current global experience on SARS-CoV-2 WBE in distinct continents and viral detection in polluted surface water. The advantages and concerns of this strategy for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance are discussed. Outcomes suggest that WBE is a valuable early warning alert and a helpful complementary surveillance tool to subside public health response, to tailor containment and mitigation measures and to determine target populations for testing. In poor sanitation settings, contaminated rivers could be alternatively used as a source for environmental surveillance.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; wastewater-based epidemiology; wastewater; surface water; fecal–oral transmission; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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