Paper Title
Environmental Surveillance of SARS-COV-2 and Norovirus through Wastewater-based Epidemiology
Abstract
The presence of pathogenic microorganisms in the wastewater is a source of their monitoring through wastewater-based epidemiology. This novel approach monitor and provide direct information on their occurrence in wastewater, identify hotspots of pathogenic infection, and monitor the trend of the disease geographically. Several pathogens are transmitted through fecal-oral routes, and viral shedding in feces can be an early warning of the infection.Considering the immense impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, which resulted in the loss of millions of human lives and added a substantial financial burden to every economy worldwide, wastewater-based surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 has become essential. Another known viral pathogen, norovirus, is highly contagious and often causes outbreaks. It is the most common non-bacterial cause of gastroenteritis disease outbreaks globally. It’s presence has also been demonstrated in wastewater previously.To assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and norovirus, the study aimed to monitor these pathogens in influent and effluent wastewater samples of two sewage treatment plants in Suwon, Gyeonggi province, South Korea through wastewater surveillance. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA occurrence in the influent samples from Seoho and Suwon STPs were estimated at 3.9×104 to 2.0×106 and4.9×104-1.55×106 and copies/L wastewater, respectively. The Norovirus were measured 1.1×105 - 1.31×106 and 7.9×104 to 1.02×106 copies/L wastewater inSeoho and Suwon STPs, respectively. The qPCR and RT-dPCR-based analysis revealed SARS-CoV-2 and norovirus presence in the wastewater. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA prevalence showed positive and parallel trending correlationswith reported covid-19 cases in Suwon and South Korea.