Feasibility of neighborhood and building scale wastewater-based genomic epidemiology for pathogen surveillance.

ABSTRACT: The benefits of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for tracking the viral load of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, have become apparent since the start of the pandemic. However, most sampling occurs at the wastewater treatment plant influent and therefore monitors the entire catchment, encompassing multiple municipalities, and is conducted using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), which only quantifies one target. Sequencing methods provide additional strain information and also can identify other pathogens, broadening the applicability of WBE to beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we demonstrate feasibility of sampling at the neighborhood or building complex level using qPCR, targeted sequencing, and untargeted metatranscriptomics (total RNA sequencing) to provide a

SUBMITTER: Spurbeck RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8542657 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature