Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 10:742:140680.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140680. Epub 2020 Jul 2.

Snowballing transmission of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) through wastewater: Any sustainable preventive measures to curtail the scourge in low-income countries?

Bashir Adelodun  1 , Fidelis Odedishemi Ajibade  2 , Rahmat Gbemisola Ibrahim  3 , Hashim Olalekan Bakare  4 , Kyung-Sook Choi  5
Affiliations

Snowballing transmission of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) through wastewater: Any sustainable preventive measures to curtail the scourge in low-income countries?

Bashir Adelodun et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

In this communication, we proposed sustainable preventive measures that may be adopted by the low-income countries to forestall the potential outbreak and transmission of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) through wastewater. Most low-income countries have poor sanitation and wastewater management policies, which create potential risks of COVID 19 spread. Hence, the proposed measures include decentralization of wastewater treatment facilities, community-wide monitoring and testing of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples, improved sanitation, developing point-of-use devices for wastewater decontamination, and more focused policy interventions. Therefore, this paper adds useful insights into the monitoring and management of ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in low-income countries.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus transmission; Low-income countries; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater reuse.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Unlabelled Image
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sources and pathways of SARS-CoV-2 in water systems.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adelodun B., Odedishemi F., Segun M., Choi K.-S. Dosage and settling time course optimization of Moringa oleifera in municipal wastewater treatment using response surface methodology. Desalin. Water Treat. 2019;167:45–56. doi: 10.5004/dwt.2019.24616. - DOI
    1. Ahmed W., Angel N., Edson J., Bibby K., Bivins A., O’Brien J.W., Choi P.M., Kitajima M., Simpson S.L., Li J., Tscharke B., Verhagen R., Smith W.J.M., Zaugg J., Dierens L., Hugenholtz P., Thomas K.V., Mueller J.F. First confirmed detection of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater in Australia: a proof of concept for the wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 in the community. Sci. Total Environ. 2020;728 doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138764. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amirian E.S. Potential fecal transmission of SARS-CoV-2: current evidence and implications for public health. Int. J. Infect. Dis. 2020;95:363–370. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.04.057. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Annalaura C., Federigi I., Dasheng L., Julian R.T., Marco V. Making waves: coronavirus detection, presence and persistence in the water environment: state of the art and knowledge needs for public health. Water Res. 2020;179:115907. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.115907. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Armah F.A., Ekumah B., Yawson D.O., Odoi J.O., Afitir A.-R., Nyieku Florence Esi. Access to improved water and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa in a quarter century. Heliyon. 2018;4:e00931. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00931. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources