First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19

A. Albastaki; M. Naji; R. Lootah; R. Almeheiri; H. Almulla; I. Almarri; A. Alreyami; A. Aden; R. Alghafri

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143350

Back

First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19

Journal article

Peer reviewed

First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19

A. Albastaki, M. Naji, R. Lootah, R. Almeheiri, H. Almulla, I. Almarri, A. Alreyami, A. Aden and R. Alghafri

Science of The Total Environment, Vol.760, Article 143350

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143350

Files and links (1)

url

Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China and spread to more than 114 countries resulting in a pandemic, which was declared by the WHO in March 2020. Tracking the spread of the virus raised a main concern in every country. Many researches proved the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in stool samples of patients, where the genes of this virus gave a positive signal several days prior to the occurrence of symptoms. The fact of viral shedding in stools provides an advantage in utilizing wastewater systems as a tool to monitor the viral prevalence. We tested more than 2900 municipal wastewater samples coming from 49 distinctive area in Dubai, where 28.6% showed positive results. We also looked into the wastewater samples from 198 commercial aircrafts arriving at Dubai Airport, giving a positive result percentage of 13.6%. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 genes was confirmed using TaqPath™ Covid-19 RT-PCR kit, which targets ORF1ab, N gene and S gene. This project shows the significance of utilizing wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in monitoring the prevalence of various infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, which can assist the decision makers to determine the level of precautionary measures according to the areas of the outbreak. With this in mind, pricewise, WBE is considered cost-effective when comparing to clinical nasal swabs.

Details

Title: First confirmed detection of SARS-COV-2 in untreated municipal and aircraft wastewater in Dubai, UAE: The use of wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning tool to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19
Authors/Creators: A. Albastaki (Author/Creator)
M. Naji (Author/Creator)
R. Lootah (Author/Creator)
R. Almeheiri (Author/Creator)
H. Almulla (Author/Creator)
I. Almarri (Author/Creator)
A. Alreyami (Author/Creator)
A. Aden (Author/Creator)
R. Alghafri (Author/Creator)
Publication Details: Science of The Total Environment, Vol.760, Article 143350
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Identifiers: 991005542310907891
Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier B.V.
Murdoch Affiliation: Harry Butler Institute
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites

Metrics

68 Record Views

96 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 1 Clinical & Life Sciences; 1.104 Virology - General; 1.104.1353 Coronavirus Research
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Sciences
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology