Journal article
Number of COVID-19 cases required in a population to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in the province of Alberta, Canada: Sensitivity assessment
Journal of Environmental Sciences, Vol.125, pp.843-850
03/2023
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Abstract
With a unique and large size of testing results of 1,842 samples collected from 12 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) for 14 months through from low to high prevalence of COVID-19, the sensitivity of RT-qPCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater that correspond to the communities was computed by using Probit analysis. This study determined the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population required to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater at defined probabilities and provided an evidence-based framework of wastewater-based epidemiology surveillance (WBE). Input data were positive and negative test results of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater samples and the corresponding new COVID-19 case rates per 100,000 population served by each WWTP. The analyses determined that RT-qPCR-based SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection threshold at 50%, 80% and 99% probability required a median of 8 (range: 4-19), 18 (9-43), and 38 (17-97) of new COVID-19 cases /100,000, respectively. Namely, the positive detection rate at 50%, 80% and 99% probability were 0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.04% averagely for new cases in the population. This study improves understanding of the performance of WBE SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection using the large datasets and prolonged study period. Estimated COVID-19 burden at a community level that would result in a positive detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is critical to support WBE application as a supplementary warning/monitoring system for COVID-19 prevention and control.
Details
- Title
- Number of COVID-19 cases required in a population to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in the province of Alberta, Canada: Sensitivity assessment
- Creators
- Qiaozhi Li - University of AlbertaBonita E. Lee - University of AlbertaTiejun Gao - University of AlbertaYuanyuan Qiu - University of AlbertaErik Ellehoj - University of AlbertaJiaao Yu - University of AlbertaMathew Diggle - Provincial Laboratory of Public HealthGraham Tipples - Provincial Laboratory of Public HealthRasha Maal-Bared - EPCORDeena Hinshaw - University of AlbertaChristopher Sikora - University of AlbertaNicholas J. Ashbolt - Southern Cross UniversityJames Talbot - University of AlbertaSteve E. Hrudey - University of AlbertaXiaoli Pang - University of Alberta
- Publication Details
- Journal of Environmental Sciences, Vol.125, pp.843-850
- Comment
- We would like to thank the participating wastewater treatment plants in Alberta for their collection and shipping of wastewater samples tirelessly for a long period of time and for providing the required information for analysis for this study. The Alberta Precision Laboratory – Public Health Laboratory and Alberta Health – Analytics Performance & Reporting Branch are acknowledged for their assistance with samples transportation and for established systems sharing with us for daily updates of COVID-19 new and active cases in the province (specially to Allen O’Brien). We are grateful to Emma Zwaigenbaum, Melissa Wilson, and Shiqi Diao for their technical support during COVID-19 pandemic. Rhonda Rosychuk (Biostatistician in the Department of Pediatrics) and Sentil Senthilselvan (Statistician in School of Public Health) are acknowledged for their valuable consulting on Probit regression analysis. The Alberta COVID-19 Wastewater surveillance team (ACWST) members are: Xiaoli Pang (Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Precision Laboratories and Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Nicholas Ashbolt (Faculty of Scienc and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia), Deena Hinshaw (Chief Medical Officer of Health, Alberta Health, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), James Talbot (Alberta Health, Alberta, Canada), Bonita Lee (Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Norman Neumann (School Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Graham Tipples (Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Precision Laboratories, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Mathew Diggle (Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Precision Laboratories, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Stephen Craik (EPCOR, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Norma Ruecker (City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada), Lyndon Gyurek (Drinking Water and Wastewater, Alberta Environment and Parks, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Qiaozhi Li (School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V.
- Grant note
- This study was supported by research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [grant number VR5-172701, 2020], Alberta Innovates and Alberta Health [grant number RES0051047, 2020].
- Identifiers
- 991013024033002368
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article