tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Total Environ
. 2020 Oct 29;143350.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143350. Online ahead of print.
First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19
Abdulla Albastaki[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mohammed Naji[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reem Lootah[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reem Almeheiri[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Hanan Almulla[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Iman Almarri[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Afra Alreyami[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ahmed Aden[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Rashed Alghafri[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China and spread to more than 114 countries resulting in a pandemic, which was declared by the WHO in March 2020. Tracking the spread of the virus raised a main concern in every country. Many researches proved the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in stool samples of patients, where the genes of this virus gave a positive signal several days prior to the occurrence of symptoms. The fact of viral shedding in stools provides an advantage in utilizing wastewater systems as a tool to monitor the viral prevalence. We tested more than 2900 municipal wastewater samples coming from 49 distinctive area in Dubai, where 28.6% showed positive results. We also looked into the wastewater samples from 198 commercial aircrafts arriving at Dubai Airport, giving a positive result percentage of 13.6%. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 genes was confirmed using TaqPath™ Covid-19 RT-PCR kit, which targets ORF1ab, N gene and S gene. This project shows the significance of utilizing wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in monitoring the prevalence of various infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, which can assist the decision makers to determine the level of precautionary measures according to the areas of the outbreak. With this in mind, pricewise, WBE is considered cost-effective when comparing to clinical nasal swabs.
Keywords: Aircraft sewage; Arab country; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater-based epidemiology.
. 2020 Oct 29;143350.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143350. Online ahead of print.
First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19
Abdulla Albastaki[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mohammed Naji[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reem Lootah[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reem Almeheiri[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Hanan Almulla[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Iman Almarri[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Afra Alreyami[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ahmed Aden[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Rashed Alghafri[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33143926
- DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143350
Abstract
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China and spread to more than 114 countries resulting in a pandemic, which was declared by the WHO in March 2020. Tracking the spread of the virus raised a main concern in every country. Many researches proved the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in stool samples of patients, where the genes of this virus gave a positive signal several days prior to the occurrence of symptoms. The fact of viral shedding in stools provides an advantage in utilizing wastewater systems as a tool to monitor the viral prevalence. We tested more than 2900 municipal wastewater samples coming from 49 distinctive area in Dubai, where 28.6% showed positive results. We also looked into the wastewater samples from 198 commercial aircrafts arriving at Dubai Airport, giving a positive result percentage of 13.6%. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 genes was confirmed using TaqPath™ Covid-19 RT-PCR kit, which targets ORF1ab, N gene and S gene. This project shows the significance of utilizing wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in monitoring the prevalence of various infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, which can assist the decision makers to determine the level of precautionary measures according to the areas of the outbreak. With this in mind, pricewise, WBE is considered cost-effective when comparing to clinical nasal swabs.
Keywords: Aircraft sewage; Arab country; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater-based epidemiology.