Detection of SARS-COV-2 RNA in Wastewater and Comparison to COVID-19 Cases in Two Sewersheds, North Carolina, USA

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Citation

Grube, Alyssa M.; Coleman, Collin K.; LaMontagne, Connor D.; Miller, Megan E.; Kothegal, Nikhil; Holcomb, David A.; Blackwood, A. Denene; Clerkin, Thomas J.; Serre, Marc L.; & Engel, Lawrence S., et al. (2023). Detection of SARS-COV-2 RNA in Wastewater and Comparison to COVID-19 Cases in Two Sewersheds, North Carolina, USA. Science of The Total Environment, 858(Pt. 3), 159996. PMCID: PMC9639408

Abstract

Wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be useful for monitoring population-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, especially given asymptomatic infections and limitations in diagnostic testing. We aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and compare viral concentrations to COVID-19 case numbers in the respective counties and sewersheds. Influent 24-hour composite wastewater samples were collected from July to December 2020 from two municipal wastewater treatment plants serving different population sizes in Orange and Chatham Counties in North Carolina. After a concentration step via HA filtration, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected and quantified by reverse transcription droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-ddPCR) and quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), targeting the N1 and N2 nucleocapsid genes. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by RT-ddPCR in 100 % (24/24) and 79 % (19/24) of influent wastewater samples from the larger and smaller plants, respectively. In comparison, viral RNA was detected by RT-qPCR in 41.7 % (10/24) and 8.3 % (2/24) of samples from the larger and smaller plants, respectively. Positivity rates and method agreement further increased for the RT-qPCR assay when samples with positive signals below the limit of detection were counted as positive. The wastewater data from the larger plant generally correlated (

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159996

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2023

Journal Title

Science of The Total Environment

Author(s)

Grube, Alyssa M.
Coleman, Collin K.
LaMontagne, Connor D.
Miller, Megan E.
Kothegal, Nikhil
Holcomb, David A.
Blackwood, A. Denene
Clerkin, Thomas J.
Serre, Marc L.
Engel, Lawrence S.
Guidry, Virginia T.
Noble, Rachel T.
Stewart, Jill R.

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC9639408

Continent/Country

United States of America

State

North Carolina

ORCiD

Kothegal - 0000-0002-3506-8377
Stewart, J - 0000-0002-3474-5233