Coupling wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance and modelling of SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19: Practical applications at the Public Health Agency of Canada

Joung, Meong Jin; Mangat, Chand S.; Mejia, Edgard M.; Nagasawa, Audra; Nichani, Anil; Perez-Iratxeta, Carol; Peterson, Shelley W.; Champredon, David

doi:https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1985

Coupling wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance and modelling of SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19: Practical applications at the Public Health Agency of Canada

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creativework.keywords - en: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater; Epidemiology; Environmental surveillance; Mathematical modelling; Pandemic
dc.contributor.author: Joung, Meong Jin; Mangat, Chand S.; Mejia, Edgard M.; Nagasawa, Audra; Nichani, Anil; Perez-Iratxeta, Carol; Peterson, Shelley W.; Champredon, David
dc.date.accessioned: 2024-03-04T19:34:44Z
dc.date.available: 2024-03-04T19:34:44Z
dc.date.issued: 2023-05-31
dc.description - en: 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.
dc.description.abstract - en: 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.
dc.description.abstract-fosrctranslation - fr: La surveillance du coronavirus 2 du syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère (SRAS-CoV-2) à partir des eaux usées constitue un outil complémentaire de la surveillance clinique pour détecter et surveiller la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Étant donné que les personnes symptomatiques et asymptomatiques infectées par le SRAS-CoV-2 peuvent transmettre le virus par voie fécale, la surveillance à partir des eaux usées peut mesurer la prévalence communautaire de COVID-19 sans restriction liées aux comportements de recherche de soins de santé et à la capacité de dépistage clinique. Pendant la vague Omicron, la capacité limitée des tests cliniques à identifier les cas de COVID-19 dans de nombreux territoires a mis en évidence l’utilité de la surveillance à partir des eaux usées pour estimer la prévalence de la maladie et contribuer aux stratégies de santé publique; cependant, il existe de nombreux facteurs internes liés aux égouts, à l’environnement et aux laboratoires qui peuvent avoir une influence sur les résultats de la surveillance à partir des eaux usées. La mise en œuvre de la surveillance à partir des eaux usées nécessite donc un cadre complet pour définir une filière qui tienne compte de ces facteurs complexes et nuancés. Cet article passe en revue le cadre national de la surveillance à partir des eaux usées mené par l’Agence de la santé publique du Canada afin de présenter les méthodes surveillance basées sur les eaux usées utilisées au Canada pour suivre et surveiller le SRAS-CoV-2. En particulier, nous mettons l’accent sur cinq villes canadiennes - Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal et Halifax - dont les signaux d’eaux usées sont analysés par un modèle mathématique afin de fournir des prévisions de cas et des estimations du nombre de reproduction. L’objectif de ce travail est de partager nos idées sur les approches de mise en œuvre de la surveillance à partir des eaux usées. Il est important de noter que le système national de surveillance à partir des eaux usées a des implications au-delà de la COVID-19, car un cadre similaire peut être appliqué pour surveiller d’autres pathogènes infectieux ou la résistance aux antimicrobiens dans la collectivité.
dc.identifier.citation: 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
dc.identifier.doi: https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v49i05a01
dc.identifier.issn: 1481-8531
dc.identifier.uri: https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1985
dc.language.iso: en
dc.publisher: Public Health Agency of Canada
dc.relation.istranslationof - fr: https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1986
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.openaccesslevel - en: Gold
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - fr: Or
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: Coupling wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance and modelling of SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19: Practical applications at the Public Health Agency of Canada
dc.type - en: Article
dc.type - fr: Article
local.article.journalissue: 5
local.article.journaltitle: Canada Communicable Disease Report
local.article.journalvolume: 49
local.pagination: 166-174
local.peerreview - en: Yes
local.peerreview - fr: Oui

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