Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a great approach that enables us to comprehensively monitor the community to determine the scale and dynamics of infections in a city, particularly in metropolitan cities with a high population density. Therefore, we monitored the time course of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in raw sewage in the Frankfurt metropolitan area, the European financial center. To determine the SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in sewage, we continuously collected 24 h composite samples twice a week from two wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influents (Niederrad and Sindlingen) serving the Frankfurt metropolitan area and performed RT-qPCR analysis targeting three genes (N gene, S gene, and ORF1ab gene). In August, a resurgence in the SARS-CoV-2 RNA load was observed, reaching 3 × 1013 copies/day, which represented similar levels compared to April with approx. 2 × 1014 copies/day. This corresponds to a continuous increase again in COVID-19 cases in Frankfurt since August, with an average of 28.6 incidences, compared to 28.7 incidences in April. Different temporal dynamics were observed between different sampling points, indicating local dynamics in COVID-19 cases within the Frankfurt metropolitan area. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA load to the WWTP Niederrad ranged from approx. 4 × 1011 to 1 × 1015 copies/day, the load to the WWTP Sindlingen from approx. 1 × 1011 to 2 × 1014 copies/day, which resulted in a preceding increase in these loading in July ahead of the weekly averaged incidences. The study shows that WBE has the potential as an early warning system for SARS-CoV-2 infections and a monitoring system to identify global hotspots of COVID-19.
Highlights
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a great approach that enables us to comprehensively monitor the community to determine the scale and dynamics of infections in a city, in metropolitan cities with a high population density
One of the first studies based on surveillance of COVID-19 in wastewater was performed in Australia, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in two samples within six days of the same wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)
We investigated the largest metropolitan region in southern Germany (Frankfurt am Main) using three different sampling points in the catchment of the two large WWTPs (Table 1) and this data was compared to the COVID-19 cases in the area
Summary
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a great approach that enables us to comprehensively monitor the community to determine the scale and dynamics of infections in a city, in metropolitan cities with a high population density. We monitored the time course of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in raw sewage in the Frankfurt metropolitan area, the European financial center. To determine the SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in sewage, we continuously collected 24 h composite samples twice a week from two wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influents (Niederrad and Sindlingen) serving the Frankfurt metropolitan area and performed RT-qPCR analysis targeting three genes (N gene, S gene, and ORF1ab gene). The study shows that WBE has the potential as an early warning system for SARS-CoV-2 infections and a monitoring system to identify global hotspots of COVID-19. One of the first studies based on surveillance of COVID-19 in wastewater was performed in Australia, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in two samples within six days of the same WWTP
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