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. 2020 Jul 30;17(15):5508.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155508.

Preliminary Study of Sars-Cov-2 Occurrence in Wastewater in the Czech Republic

Hana Mlejnkova  1 , Katerina Sovova  2 , Petra Vasickova  3 , Vera Ocenaskova  1 , Lucie Jasikova  1 , Eva Juranova  1
Affiliations

Preliminary Study of Sars-Cov-2 Occurrence in Wastewater in the Czech Republic

Hana Mlejnkova et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The virus SARS-CoV-2, which has caused the recent COVID-19 pandemic, may be present in the stools of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater for surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in the population. Samples of untreated wastewater were collected from 33 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of different sizes within the Czech Republic. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was concentrated from wastewater and viral RNA was determined using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 11.6% of samples and more than 27.3% of WWTPs; in some of them, SARS-CoV-2 was detected repeatedly. Our preliminary results indicate that an epidemiology approach that focuses on the determination of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater could be suitable for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the population.

Keywords: RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; early warning system; epidemic; virus; wastewater; wastewater-based epidemiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Regions of the Czech Republic where SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in wastewater.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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