Wastewater surveillance for Covid-19: An African perspective

Renée Street; Shirley Malema; Nomfundo Mahlangeni; Angela Mathee

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140719

Wastewater surveillance for Covid-19: An African perspective

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Nov 15:743:140719. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140719. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Authors

Renée Street¹, Shirley Malema², Nomfundo Mahlangeni², Angela Mathee³

Affiliations

¹ Environment & Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa; School of Nursing and Public Health, Discipline of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Electronic address: renee.street@mrc.ac.za.
² Environment & Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa.
³ Environment & Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa; Environmental Health Department, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the importance of access to sufficient quantities of safe water and sanitation in public health. In the current COVID-19 pandemic, an early warning wastewater system has been proposed as a platform for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, and a potentially important public health strategy to combat the disease. This short communication on wastewater surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa highlights challenges, opportunities and alternatives taken into account the local context.

Keywords: COVID-19; Sanitation; Sub-Saharan African; Wastewater.

MeSH terms

Africa South of the Sahara
Betacoronavirus*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections*
Humans
Pandemics*
Pneumonia, Viral*
SARS-CoV-2
Wastewater*

Substances

Waste Water