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. 2020 Oct 20:740:140122.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140122. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Recreational waters - A potential transmission route for SARS-CoV-2 to humans?

Niamh Cahill  1 , Dearbháile Morris  2
Affiliations

Recreational waters - A potential transmission route for SARS-CoV-2 to humans?

Niamh Cahill et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the respiratory illness caused by the novel virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has lead to high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide, has been causing major public health concerns since first detected in late 2019. Following identification of novel pathogens, questions in relation to dissemination of the pathogen and transmission routes begin to emerge. This rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in both faecal and wastewater samples across the globe, highlighting the potential for faecal-oral transmission of the virus. As a result, concerns regarding the transmission of the virus in the environment and the risk associated with contracting the virus in recreational waters, particularly where inadequately treated wastewater is discharged, have been emerging in recent weeks. This paper highlights the need for further research to be carried out to investigate the presence, infectivity and viability of this newly identified SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater effluent and receiving recreational waters.

Keywords: Aquatic environment; COVID-19; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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