Journal article
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
Science of The Total Environment, Vol.760, Article 143350
2021
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
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- 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