Wastewater surveillance monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and dynamics of transmission and community burden of COVID-19

Hasing, Maria E.; Lee, Bonita E.; Gao, Tiejun; Li, Qiaozhi; Qiu, Yuanyuan; Ellehoj, Erik; Graber, Tyson E.; Fuzzen, Meghan; Servos, Mark; Landgraff, Chrystal; Delatolla, Robert; Tipples, Graham; Zelyas, Nathan; Hinshaw, Deena; Maal-Bared, Rasha; Sikora, Christopher; Parkins, Michael; Hubert, Casey R. J.; Frankowski, Kevin; Hrudey, Steve E.; Pang, Xiaoli L.

Wastewater surveillance monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and dynamics of transmission and community burden of COVID-19

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creativework.keywords - en: Wastewater-based surveillance; SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern; VOC-specific RT-qPCR; next generation sequencing; relative abundance of VOC; COVID-19 pandemic waves
dc.contributor.author: Hasing, Maria E.; Lee, Bonita E.; Gao, Tiejun; Li, Qiaozhi; Qiu, Yuanyuan; Ellehoj, Erik; Graber, Tyson E.; Fuzzen, Meghan; Servos, Mark; Landgraff, Chrystal; Delatolla, Robert; Tipples, Graham; Zelyas, Nathan; Hinshaw, Deena; Maal-Bared, Rasha; Sikora, Christopher; Parkins, Michael; Hubert, Casey R. J.; Frankowski, Kevin; Hrudey, Steve E.; Pang, Xiaoli L.
dc.date.accessioned: 2023-09-29T16:44:55Z
dc.date.available: 2023-09-29T16:44:55Z
dc.date.issued: 2023-08-07
dc.description.abstract - en: Wastewater-based surveillance is a valuable approach for monitoring COVID-19 at community level. Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) in wastewater has become increasingly relevant when clinical testing capacity and case-based surveillance are limited. In this study, we ascertained the turnover of six VOC in Alberta wastewater from May 2020 to May 2022. Wastewater samples from nine wastewater treatment plants across Alberta were analysed using VOC-specific RT-qPCR assays. The performance of the RT-qPCR assays in identifying VOC in wastewater was evaluated against next generation sequencing. The relative abundance of each VOC in wastewater was compared to positivity rate in COVID-19 testing. VOC-specific RT-qPCR assays performed comparatively well against next generation sequencing; concordance rates ranged from 89% to 98% for detection of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Omicron BA.1 and Omicron BA.2, with a slightly lower rate of 85% for Delta (pâ€‰<â€‰0.01). Elevated relative abundance of Alpha, Delta, Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 were each associated with increased COVID-19 positivity rate. Alpha, Delta and Omicron BA.2 reached 90% relative abundance in wastewater within 80, 111 and 62 days after their initial detection, respectively. Omicron BA.1 increased more rapidly, reaching a 90% relative abundance in wastewater after 35 days. Our results from VOC surveillance in wastewater correspond with clinical observations that Omicron is the VOC with highest disease burden over the shortest period in Alberta to date. The findings suggest that changes in relative abundance of a VOC in wastewater can be used as a supplementary indicator to track and perhaps predict COVID-19 burden in a population.
dc.identifier.citation: Hasing, M. E., Lee, B. E., Gao, T., Li, Q., Qiu, Y., Ellehoj, E., Graber, T. E., Fuzzen, M., Servos, M., Landgraff, C., Delatolla, R., Tipples, G., Zelyas, N., Hinshaw, D., Maal-Bared, R., Sikora, C., Parkins, M., Hubert, C. R. J., Frankowski, K., Hrudey, S. E., … Pang, X. L. (2023). Wastewater surveillance monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and dynamics of transmission and community burden of COVID-19. Emerging microbes & infections, 12(2), 2233638. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2023.2233638
dc.identifier.doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2023.2233638
dc.identifier.issn: 2222-1751
dc.identifier.other: PMC10408568
dc.identifier.pubmedID: 37409382
dc.identifier.uri: https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1184
dc.language.iso: en
dc.publisher: Shanghai Shangyixun Cultural Communication Co., Ltd
dc.rights - en: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights - fr: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights.uri - en: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en: Health
dc.subject - fr: Santé
dc.subject.en - en: Health
dc.subject.fr - fr: Santé
dc.title - en: Wastewater surveillance monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and dynamics of transmission and community burden of COVID-19
dc.type - en: Article
dc.type - fr: Article
local.acceptedmanuscript.articlenum: 2233638
local.article.journalissue: 2
local.article.journaltitle: Emerging microbes & infections
local.article.journalvolume: 12
local.peerreview - en: Yes
local.peerreview - fr: Oui