High-resolution within-sewer SARS-CoV-2 surveillance facilitates informed intervention

Area of Science:

• Environmental science
• Public health
• Molecular biology

Background:

• COVID-19 pandemic necessitated innovative public health strategies on college campuses.
• Wastewater surveillance offers a non-invasive method for monitoring infectious disease prevalence in communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a cost-effective wastewater surveillance system for SARS-CoV-2 on a university campus.
• To assess the utility of wastewater data in informing public health guidance and interventions.

Main Methods:

• Daily composite wastewater samples collected from 20 campus locations using in-house fabricated autosamplers.
• SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantified using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reactions (RT-qPCR).
• Comparison of raw concentration data versus data normalized to an endogenous control.

Main Results:

• Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations correlated with campus clinical surveillance data.
• High temporal resolution sampling provided actionable data despite limitations in replicates.
• Normalization to an endogenous control showed minimal impact on raw concentration data interpretation.

Conclusions:

• Low-cost wastewater surveillance is a viable tool for campus public health monitoring.
• Daily wastewater data provides timely insights for decision-making during infectious disease outbreaks.
• This approach supports targeted interventions and case detection within defined populations.