Detection and Stability of SARS-CoV-2 Fragments in Wastewater: Impact of Storage Temperature

Rudolf Markt; Markus Mayr; Evelyn Peer; Andreas O Wagner; Nina Lackner; Heribert Insam

doi:10.3390/pathogens10091215

Detection and Stability of SARS-CoV-2 Fragments in Wastewater: Impact of Storage Temperature

Pathogens. 2021 Sep 18;10(9):1215. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10091215.

Authors

Rudolf Markt¹, Markus Mayr¹, Evelyn Peer¹, Andreas O Wagner¹, Nina Lackner¹, Heribert Insam¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater epidemiology suffers from uncertainties concerning sample storage. We show the effect of the storage of wastewater on the detectable SARS-CoV-2 load. Storage at 4 °C for up to 9 days had no significant effect, while storage at -20 °C led to a significant reduction in gene copy numbers.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; freezing; stability; storage; wastewater.

Abstract

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