Wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance to monitor the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in developing countries with onsite sanitation facilities.

ABSTRACT: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a valuable approach to forecast disease outbreaks in developed countries with a centralized sewage infrastructure. On the other hand, due to the absence of well-defined and systematic sewage networks, WBE is challenging to implement in developing countries like Bangladesh where most people live in rural areas. Identification of appropriate locations for rural Hotspot Based Sampling (HBS) and urban Drain Based Sampling (DBS) are critical to enable WBE based monitoring system. We investigated the best sampling locations from both urban and rural areas after evaluating Bangladesh's sanitation infrastructure for forecasting COVID-19 prevalence. A total of 168 wastewater samples were collected from 14 districts of Bangladesh during each of two peak pandemic seasons. RT-qPCR commercial kits were used to target ORF1ab and N genes. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 genetic materials was found in 98% (165/168) of samples in the first round and 95% (160/168) of samples in the second round, respectively. Although wastewater effluents from both the marketplace and isolation center drains were found with the highest amount of genetic materials according to the mixed model, quantifiable SARS-CoV-2 RNAs were also identified in other four sampling sites. Hence, wastewater samples of the marketplace in rural areas and isolation centers in urban areas can be considered as appropriate sampling sites to detect contagion hotspots. This is the first complete study to detect SARS-CoV-2 genetic components in wastewater samples collected from rural and urban areas for monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. The results based on the study revealed correlation between viral copy numbers in wastewater samples and SARS-CoV-2 positive cases reported by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) as part of the national surveillance program for COVID-19 prevention. The findings of this study will help in setting strategies and guidelines for the selection of appropriate sampling sites, which will facilitate in developing comprehensive wastewater-based epidemiological systems for surveillance of rural and urban areas of low-income countries with inadequate sewage infrastructure.

SUBMITTER: Jakariya M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9225114 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature