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

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 311; p. 119679
• Main Authors: Jakariya, Md, Ahmed, Firoz, Islam, Md. Aminul, Al Marzan, Abdullah, Hasan, Mohammad Nayeem, Hossain, Maqsud, Ahmed, Tanvir, Hossain, Ahmed, Reza, Hasan Mahmud, Hossen, Foysal, Nahla, Turasa, Rahman, Mohammad Moshiur, Bahadur, Newaz Mohammed, Islam, Md. Tahmidul, Didar-ul-Alam, Md, Mow, Nowrin, Jahan, Hasin, Barceló, Damiá, Bibby, Kyle, Bhattacharya, Prosun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.10.2022; The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd
• Subjects: Bangladesh; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 infection; Developing Countries; governance; Humans; infrastructure; markets; monitoring; National surveillance program; Onsite sanitation; pandemic; Pandemics; people; pollution; Prevalence; Rural Hotspot based sampling; Sanitation; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 monitoring; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sewage; statistical models; Urban Drain based sampling; Wastewater; Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE); Bangladesh; Onsite sanitation; SARS-CoV-2 monitoring; National surveillance program; Developing countries; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE); Rural Hotspot based sampling; Urban Drain based sampling
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119679

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a valuable approach for forecasting 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 in Bangladesh after evaluating the sanitation infrastructure for forecasting COVID-19 prevalence. A total of 168 wastewater samples were collected from 14 districts of Bangladesh during each of the 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) and 95% (160/168) wastewater samples in the first and second round sampling, 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 the other four sampling sites. Hence, wastewater samples of the marketplace in rural areas and isolation centers in urban areas can be considered the 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 a correlation between viral copy numbers in wastewater samples and SARS-CoV-2 positive cases reported by the 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 development of comprehensive wastewater-based epidemiological systems for surveillance of rural and urban areas of low-income countries with inadequate sewage infrastructure. [Display omitted] •Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a vital monitoring tool to track COVID-19 outbreaks.•Informal sewage networks present major challenges for WBE in the developing world.•The study demonstrates a novel WBE monitoring from rural hotspot and urban drain systems.•Genetic signals optimized from regional sampling sites.•WBE data correlated with clinically diagnosed cases of COVID-19.