Sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at student campus residences in the Western Cape, South Africa

Noluxabiso Mangwana; Edward Archer; Christo J F Muller; Wolfgang Preiser; Gideon Wolfaardt; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern; Alno Carstens; Ludwig Brocker; Candice Webster; David McCarthy; Renee Street; Angela Mathee; Johan Louw; Mongezi Mdhluli; Rabia Johnson

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028

Sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at student campus residences in the Western Cape, South Africa

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Dec 10;851(Pt 1):158028. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028. Epub 2022 Aug 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
² Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
³ Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Centre for Cardiometabolic Research in Africa, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
⁴ Division of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; National Health Laboratory Services, Tygerberg Hospital, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa; Department of Chemistry and Biology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom.
⁷ Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁸ Environmental and Public Health Microbiology Lab (EPHM LAB), Monash Infrastructure Institute, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, Australia.
⁹ Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Durban, South Africa.
¹⁰ Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
¹¹ Chief Research Operations Office, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7050, South Africa.
¹² Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa; Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Centre for Cardiometabolic Research in Africa, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Electronic address: rabia.johnson@mrc.ac.za.

Abstract

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostic capacity is limited in defined communities, posing a challenge in tracking and tracing new infections. Monitoring student residences, which are considered infection hotspots, with targeted wastewater surveillance is crucial. This study evaluated the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 targeted wastewater surveillance for outbreak mitigation at Stellenbosch University's student residences in South Africa. Using torpedo-style passive sampling devices, wastewater samples were collected biweekly from manholes at twelve Stellenbosch University Tygerberg (SUT) campus and Stellenbosch University-Main (SUM) campus student residences. The surveillance led to an early warning detection of SARS-CoV-2 presence on campus, followed by an informed management strategy leading to restriction of student activities on campus and a delay in the onset of the third wave that was experienced throughout the country. Moreover, the study highlighted the extent of possible infections at defined locations even when a low number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were reported. The study also tracked the surge of the Delta and Omicron variants in the student residences using the Thermo Fisher TaqMan® RT-qPCR genotyping assay.

Keywords: COVID-19; Institution; Near-source WBE; Passive sampling; SARS-CoV-2; Student campus residences; Wastewater; Wastewater-based epidemiology.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Humans
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics
Sewage
South Africa / epidemiology
Students
Wastewater
Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring

Substances

Sewage
Waste Water

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants