Coupling wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance and modelling of SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19: Practical applications at the Public Health Agency of Canada
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2023-05-31
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Joung, Meong Jin
- Mangat, Chand S.
- Mejia, Edgard M.
- Nagasawa, Audra
- Nichani, Anil
- Perez-Iratxeta, Carol
- Peterson, Shelley W.
- Champredon, David
- Publisher
- Public Health Agency of Canada
Abstract
Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) offers a complementary tool for clinical surveillance to detect and monitor coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 can shed the virus through the fecal route, WBS has the potential to measure community prevalence of COVID-19 without restrictions from healthcare-seeking behaviours and clinical testing capacity. During the Omicron wave, the limited capacity of clinical testing to identify COVID-19 cases in many jurisdictions highlighted the utility of WBS to estimate disease prevalence and inform public health strategies; however, there is a plethora of in-sewage, environmental and laboratory factors that can influence WBS outcomes. The implementation of WBS, therefore, requires a comprehensive framework to outline a pipeline that accounts for these complex and nuanced factors. This article reviews the framework of the national WBS conducted at the Public Health Agency of Canada to present WBS methods used in Canada to track and monitor SARS-CoV-2. In particular, we focus on five Canadian cities— Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax—whose wastewater signals are analyzed by a mathematical model to provide case forecasts and reproduction number estimates. The goal of this work is to share our insights on approaches to implement WBS. Importantly, the national WBS system has implications beyond COVID-19, as a similar framework can be applied to monitor other infectious disease pathogens or antimicrobial resistance in the community.
Plain language summary
Wastewater-based surveillance has the potential to measure community prevalence of COVID-19 without restrictions from healthcare-seeking behaviours and clinical testing capacity. During the Omicron wave, the limited capacity of clinical testing to identify COVID-19 cases in many jurisdictions highlighted the utility of WBS to estimate disease prevalence and inform public health strategies; however, there is a plethora of in-sewage, environmental and laboratory factors that can influence WBS outcomes. The implementation of WBS, therefore, requires a comprehensive framework to outline a pipeline that accounts for these complex and nuanced factors. This article reviews the framework of the national WBS conducted at the Public Health Agency of Canada to present WBS methods used in Canada to track and monitor SARS-CoV-2. In particular, we focus on five Canadian cities— Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal and Halifax—whose wastewater signals are analyzed by a mathematical model to provide case forecasts and reproduction number estimates. The goal of this work is to share our insights on approaches to implement WBS. Importantly, the national WBS system has implications beyond COVID-19, as a similar framework can be applied to monitor other infectious disease pathogens or antimicrobial resistance in the community.
Subject
- Health
Keywords
- COVID-19,
- SARS-CoV-2,
- Wastewater,
- Epidemiology,
- Environmental surveillance,
- Mathematical modelling,
- Pandemic
Rights
Pagination
166-174
Peer review
Yes
Open access level
Gold
Identifiers
- ISSN
- 1481-8531
Article
- Journal title
- Canada Communicable Disease Report
- Journal volume
- 49
- Journal issue
- 5
Relation
- Is translation of:
- https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1986
Citation(s)
Jin Joung M, Mangat CS, Mejia EM, Nagasawa A, Nichani A, Perez-Iratxeta C, Peterson SW, Champredon D. Coupling wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance and modelling of SARS-COV-2/COVID-19: Practical applications at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Can Commun Dis Rep 2023;49(5):166−74. https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v49i05a01