TY - JOUR

T1 - Wastewater and public health: the potential of wastewater surveillance for monitoring COVID-19

AU - Farkas, Kata

AU - Hillary, Luke

AU - Malham, Shelagh

AU - McDonald, James

AU - Jones, Davey L.

N1 - © 2020 The Authors. Funded by NERC: NE/V010387/1 COVID 19 - SARS-CoV-2 in Sewage Treatment Works: Environmental Impact, Infectivity and Prevalence Modelling

PY - 2020/10

Y1 - 2020/10

N2 - Pathogenic viruses represent one of the greatest threats to human well-being. As evidenced by the COVID-19 global pandemic, however, halting the spread of highly contagious diseases is notoriously difficult. Successful control strategies therefore have to rely on effective surveillance. Here, we describe how monitoring wastewater from urban areas can be used to detect the arrival and subsequent decline of pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2. As the amount of virus shed in faeces and urine varies largely from person to person, it is very difficult to quantitatively determine the number of people who are infected in the population. More research on the surveillance of viruses in wastewater using accurate and validated methods, as well as subsequent risk analysis and modelling is paramount in understanding the dynamics of viral outbreaks.

AB - Pathogenic viruses represent one of the greatest threats to human well-being. As evidenced by the COVID-19 global pandemic, however, halting the spread of highly contagious diseases is notoriously difficult. Successful control strategies therefore have to rely on effective surveillance. Here, we describe how monitoring wastewater from urban areas can be used to detect the arrival and subsequent decline of pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2. As the amount of virus shed in faeces and urine varies largely from person to person, it is very difficult to quantitatively determine the number of people who are infected in the population. More research on the surveillance of viruses in wastewater using accurate and validated methods, as well as subsequent risk analysis and modelling is paramount in understanding the dynamics of viral outbreaks.

U2 - 10.1016/j.coesh.2020.06.001

DO - 10.1016/j.coesh.2020.06.001

M3 - Article

C2 - 32835157

VL - 17

SP - 14

EP - 20

JO - Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health

JF - Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health

SN - 2468-5844

ER -