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Journal article
Use of wastewater from passenger ships to assess the movement of COVID-19 and other pathogenic viruses across maritime international boundaries
Frontiers in public health, Vol.12, 1377996
2024
Abstract
Objective: The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 pandemic has been driven by international travel. This has led to the desire to develop surveillance approaches which can estimate the rate of import of pathogenic organisms across international borders. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of wastewater-based approaches for the surveillance of viral pathogens on commercial short-haul (3.5 h transit time) roll-on/roll-off passenger/freight ferries operating between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Methods: Samples of toilet-derived wastewater (blackwater) were collected from two commercial ships over a 4-week period and analysed for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, enterovirus, norovirus, the faecal-marker virus crAssphage and a range of physical and chemical indicators of wastewater quality.
Results: A small proportion of the wastewater samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (8% of the total), consistent with theoretical predictions of detection frequency (4%–15% of the total) based on the national COVID-19 Infection Survey and defecation behaviour. In addition, norovirus was detected in wastewater at low frequency. No influenza A/B viruses, enterovirus or enterovirus D68 were detected throughout the study period.
Conclusion: We conclude that testing of wastewater from ships that cross international maritime boundaries may provide a cost-effective and relatively unbiased method to estimate the flow of infected individuals between countries. The approach is also readily applicable for the surveillance of other disease-causing agents.
Details
- Title
- Use of wastewater from passenger ships to assess the movement of COVID-19 and other pathogenic viruses across maritime international boundaries
- Authors/Creators
- Davey L. JonesMathew BridgmanCameron PellettAndrew J. WeightmanPeter KilleÁlvaro García DelgadoGareth CrossSteve CobleyHelen Howard-JonesDavid R. ChadwickKata Farkas
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in public health, Vol.12, 1377996
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media S.A.
- Number of pages
- 10
- Grant note
- Welsh Government under Welsh Wastewater Programme: C035/2021/2022 Welsh Government under UKRI Natural Environment Research Council: NE/V010441/1
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. DJ, PK, and AW were supported by a grant from Welsh Government under the Welsh Wastewater Programme (C035/2021/2022) and the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/V010441/1.
- Identifiers
- 991005687830007891
- Copyright
- © 2024 Jones et al.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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