Australian researchers claimed, they have achieved the first step in developing an early warning surveillance system to track COVID-19 prevalence in the community through tracing the presence of the novel coronavirus gene in raw sewage.
Researchers from The University of Queensland and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO have successfully demonstrated the presence of SARS-CoV2, the virus which leads to the disease COVID-19, in untreated wastewater (sewage).
A proof of concept study has been completed using wastewater samples from two wastewater treatment plants in South East Queensland, representing populations living in the Brisbane region.
A joint team of researchers from the University and CSIRO found RNA fragments of SARS-CoV2 in untreated sewage which would have been shed in the wastewater stream by COVID-19 infected people.
“The COVID-19 wastewater surveillance pilot is extremely encouraging and has the potential to further strengthen Australia’s response to the global pandemic,” said federal minister for Health Greg Hunt.
Director of University of Queensland’s Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences Professor Kevin Thomas said the validated method built on work by research groups in the Netherlands and the United States of America.
“This is a major development that enables surveillance of the spread of the virus through Australian communities,” Professor Thomas said.
“An early warning detection system like this would also be incredibly useful for monitoring and response in the recovery phase,” said Dr Paul Bertsch, Director of CSIRO Land and Water Science.
The team is keen to share the new knowledge and methods to develop a national collaboration.
Professor Thomas hoped this research would bring together a national collaboration of government authorities, wastewater utilities, universities and other research organisations and commercial laboratories.
“The next step is to build the capacity to deliver a national program,” he added.
Professor Thomas said the research used systematic sampling and analysis of wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 using a standardised, coordinated approach based on refined analytical methods.
“The wastewater samples were analysed for specific nucleic acid fragments of the virus using RT-PCR analysis, which is used to identify a gene fragment from SARS-CoV2,” he said.
“The presence of SARS-CoV2 in specific wastewater samples was then confirmed using sequencing techniques.”
Source: University of Queensland
Image: Representative
