Concentration methods for the quantification of coronavirus and other potentially pandemic enveloped virus from wastewater

Marta Rusiñol; Sandra Martínez-Puchol; Eva Forés; Marta Itarte; Rosina Girones; Sílvia Bofill-Mas

doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2020.08.002

Concentration methods for the quantification of coronavirus and other potentially pandemic enveloped virus from wastewater

Curr Opin Environ Sci Health. 2020 Oct:17:21-28. doi: 10.1016/j.coesh.2020.08.002. Epub 2020 Aug 19.

Authors

Marta Rusiñol^{1

2}, Sandra Martínez-Puchol^{1

3}, Eva Forés^{1

3}, Marta Itarte^{1

3}, Rosina Girones^{1

3}, Sílvia Bofill-Mas^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Section of Microbiology, Virology and Biotechnology, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics. Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
² GHS, Institute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
³ The Water Institute of the University of Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

As the novel SARS-CoV-2 was detected in faeces, environmental researchers have been using centrifugal ultrafiltration, polyethylene glycol precipitation and aluminium hydroxide flocculation to describe its presence in wastewater samples. High recoveries (up to 65%) are described with electronegative filtration when using surrogate viruses, but few literature reports recovery efficiencies using accurate quantification of enveloped viruses. Considering that every single virus will have a different behaviour during viral concentration, it is recommended to use an enveloped virus, and if possible, a betacoronaviruses as murine hepatitis virus, as a surrogate. In this review, we show new data from a newly available technology that provides a quick ultrafiltration protocol for SARS-CoV-2. Wastewater surveillance is an efficient system for the evaluation of the relative prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a community, and there is the need of using reliable concentration methods for an accurate and sensitive quantification of the virus in water.

Keywords: Concentration methods; Enveloped virus; Recovery efficiency; SARS-CoV-2; Surrogate virus.

Publication types

Review