Environmental surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in municipal wastewater to monitor COVID-19 status in urban clusters in Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-2023
Abstract
Wastewater monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 has attracted considerable attention worldwide to complement the existing clinical-based surveillance system. In this study, we report our first successful attempt to prove the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 genes in Malaysian urban wastewater. A total of 18 wastewater samples were obtained from a regional sewage treatment plant that received municipal sewage between February 2021 and May 2021. Using the quantitative PCR assay targeting the E and RdRp genes of SARS-CoV-2, we confirmed that both genes were detected in the raw sewage, while no viral RNA was found in the treated sewage. We were also able to show that the trend of COVID-19 cases in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor was related to the changes in SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in the wastewater samples. Overall, our study highlights that monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 should help local health professionals to obtain additional information on the rapid and silent circulation of infectious agents in communities at the regional level.
Keywords
COVID-19, Malaysia, Municipal, Wastewater, SARS-CoV-2 RNA
Divisions
InstituteofBiologicalSciences,BuiltEnvironment
Funders
COVID-19 Special Research Grant, Universiti Malaya CSRG007-2020ST
Publication Title
Archives of Microbiology
Volume
205
Issue
2
Publisher
Springer
Publisher Location
ONE NEW YORK PLAZA, SUITE 4600, NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES