Genetic sequencing detected the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in wastewater a month prior to the first COVID-19 case in Ahmedabad (India).

ABSTRACT: Wastewater-based genomic surveillance can identify a huge majority of variants shed by the infected individuals within a population, which goes beyond genomic surveillance based on clinical samples (i.e., symptomatic patients only). We analyzed four samples to detect key mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome and track circulating variants in Ahmedabad during the first wave (Sep/Nov 2020) and before the second wave (in Feb 2021) of COVID-19 in India. The analysis identified a total of 34 mutations in the spike protein across samples categorized into 23 types. The spike protein mutations were linked to the VOC-21APR-02; B.1.617.2 lineage (Delta variant) with 57% frequency in wastewater samples of Feb 2021. The key spike protein mutations were T19R, L452R, T478K, D614G, & P681R and deletions at

SUBMITTER: Joshi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9287018 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature