Infect Chemother.  2023 Jun;55(2):214-225. 10.3947/ic.2022.0152.

Wastewater Knows Pathogen Spread: Analysis of Residential Wastewater for Infectious Microorganisms including SARS-CoV-2

• Kim NY
• Shi HJ
• Oh SS
• Gong YW
• Kwon MJ
• Eom JS
• Park Y

• KMID: 2544440
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2022.0152

Abstract

Background
We aimed to identify the genes of 35 pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and protozoa that cause waterborne infectious diseases, and to assess the feasibility of a wastewater-based surveillance system.
Materials and Methods
Wastewater was aseptically sampled once a month from 2 sites. A total of 1 L of wastewater from each site underwent 0.2 μm filtration to generate the sample A. Subsequently, 200 ul of the filtered water was ultra-filtered and concentrated to generate the sample B, which was mixed with sample A in a 1:1 ratio. We performed a Filmarray^® Gastrointestinal (GI) panel (BioFire Diagnnostics’, Salt Lake City, UT, USA) test to simultaneously detect 13 enterobacteria, 5 enterovirus, and 4 protozoa. RNA was extracted to assess 18 types of viruses.
Results
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 adenovirus, bocavirus, and rhinovirus was detected at both site. Norovirus GI/GII was continuously detected at both sites. Moreover, adenovirus, group A rotaviruses, and hepatitis A virus were frequently detected; however, hepatitis E virus was absent at either site. Campylobacter, enteroaggregative Escherichia coli, enterotoxigenic E. coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and Clostridioides difficile toxin A/B were detected at both sites. Giardia lamblia was also detected in both sites.
Conclusion
We analyze multiple infectious disease pathogens under sample surveillance with incidence. Further indepth studies on wastewater-based surveillance will be feasible and important.

Keyword

Wastewater-based epidemiology; Food-water borne pathogens; One-health surveillance; Environmental microbiology