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Preprint ARTICLE | doi:10.20944/preprints202305.0521.v1

Application of Adsorption-Extraction and Nanotrap® Microbiome A Particles Workflows for Detection and Quantification of Indicator, Enteric, and Respiratory Viruses in Aircraft Lavatory Wastewater

Warish Ahmed, Wendy Smith, Ananda Tiwari, Aaron Bivins, Stuart Simpson

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Immunology And Microbiology Keywords: Aircraft; Wastewater; Surveillance; Indicator viruses; Enteric viruses; Respiratory viruses

Online: 8 May 2023 (10:39:58 CEST)

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The effective detection of viruses in aircraft wastewater is crucial to establish surveillance programs for monitoring virus spread via aircraft passengers. This study aimed to compare the performance of two virus concentration workflows, adsorption-extraction (AE) and Nanotrap® Microbiome A Particles (NMAP), in detecting the prevalence and concentrations of 15 endogenous viruses in aircraft lavatory wastewater samples. The viruses tested include two indicator viruses, four enteric viruses, and nine respiratory viruses. The results showed that cross-assembly phage (crAssphage), human polyomavirus (HPyV), rhinovirus A (RhV A), and rhinovirus B (RhV B) were detected in all wastewater samples using both workflows. However, enterovirus (EV), human norovirus (HNoV GII), human adenovirus (HAdV), bocavirus (BoV), parechovirus (PeV), epstein-barr virus (EBV), influenza A virus (IAV), and respiratory syncytial virus B (RsV B) were infrequently detected by both workflows, and hepatitis A virus (HAV), influenza B virus (IBV), and respiratory syncytial virus B (RsV A) were not detected in any samples. The NMAP workflow had greater detection rates of EV, PeV, and RsV B than the AE workflow, while the AE workflow had greater detection rates of HAdV, BoV, and EBV than the NMAP workflow. The concentration of each virus was also analyzed, and the results showed that CrAssphage had the highest mean concentration (6.76 log₁₀ GC/12.5 mL) followed by HPyV (5.46 log₁₀ GC/12.5 mL using the AE workflow, while the mean concentrations of enteric and respiratory viruses ranged from 2.48 to 3.63 log₁₀ GC/12.5 mL. Using the NMAP workflow, the mean concentration of crAssphage was 5.18 log₁₀ GC/12.5 mL and the mean concentration of HPyV was 4.20 log₁₀GC/12.5 mL, while mean concentrations of enteric and respiratory viruses ranged from 2.55 to 3.74 log₁₀GC/12.5 mL. The mean concentrations of CrAssphage, HPyV, RhV A, and RhV B between the two workflows were statistically significant (p < 0.05). In summary, the present study provides valuable insights into the performance of virus concentration workflows in detecting and quantifying different viruses in aircraft lavatory wastewater samples. The findings can aid in the selection of an appropriate concentration workflow for virus surveillance studies and contribute to the development of efficient and reliable virus detection methods.

Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202106.0320.v1

Inherent Bias of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Quantification for Wastewater Surveillance Due to Variable RT-qPCR Assay Parameters

Aaron Bivins, Devrim Kaya, Kyle Bibby, Stuart Simpson, Stephen Bustin, Orin Shanks, Warish Ahmed

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Water Science And Technology Keywords: RT-qPCR; assay validity; standard curve; quality assurance; quality control; wastewater surveillance

Online: 11 June 2021 (14:10:51 CEST)

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Preprint COMMUNICATION | doi:10.20944/preprints202309.1616.v1

Harnessing Wastewater Surveillance to Detect Livestock-Linked Viruses

Warish Ahmed, Yawen Liu, Wendy Smith, Wayne Ingall, Michael Belby, Aaron Bivins, Paul Bertsch, David Williams, Kirsty Richards, Stuart Simpson

Subject: Biology And Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science And Zoology Keywords: wastewater surveillance; livestock; zoonotic pathogens; one health; animal epidemiology

Online: 25 September 2023 (04:58:41 CEST)

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Preprint REVIEW | doi:10.20944/preprints202104.0481.v1

Minimizing Errors in RT-PCR Detection and Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for Wastewater Surveillance

Warish Ahmed, Stuart Simpson, Paul Bertsch, Kyle Bibby, Aaron Bivins, Linda Blackall, Silvia Bofill-Mas, Albert Bosch, Joao Brandao, Phil Choi, Mark Ciesielski, Erica Donner, Nishita D'Souza, Andreas Farnleitner, Daniel Gerrity, Raul Gonzalez, John Griffith, Pradip Gyawali, Charles Haas, Kerry Hamilton, Chanditha Hapuarachchi, Valerie Harwood, Rehnuma Haque, Greg Jackson, Stuart Khan, Wesaal Khan, Masaaki Kitajima, Asja Korajkic, Giuseppina La Rosa, Blythe Layton, Erin Lipp, Sandra McLellan, Brian McMinn, Gertjan Medema, Suzanne Metcalfe, Wim Meijer, Jochen Mueller, Heather Murphy, Colleen Naughton, Rachel Noble, Sudhi Payyappat, Susan Petterson, Tarja Pitkanen, Veronica Rajal, Brandon Reyneke, Fernando Roman, Joan Rose, Marta Rusinol, Michael Sadowsky, Laura Sala-Comorera, Yin Xiang Setoh, Samendra Sherchan, Kwanrawee Sirikanchana, Wendy Smith, Joshua Steele, Rosalie Sabburg, Erin Symonds, Phong Thai, Kevin Thomas, Josh Tynan, Simon Toze, Janelle Thompson, Andy Whiteley, Judith Wong, Daisuke Sano, Stefan Wuertz, Irene Xagoraraki, Qian Zhang, Amity Zimmer-Faust, Orin Shanks

Subject: Environmental And Earth Sciences, Waste Management And Disposal Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater; Surveillance; False-positive; False-negative; RT-PCR

Online: 19 April 2021 (13:08:13 CEST)

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Wastewater surveillance for pathogens using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective, resource-efficient tool for gathering additional community-level public health information, including the incidence and/or prevalence and trends of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater may provide an early-warning signal of COVID-19 infections in a community. The capacity of the world’s environmental microbiology and virology laboratories for SARS-CoV-2 RNA characterization in wastewater is rapidly increasing. However, there are no standardized protocols nor harmonized quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. This paper is a technical review of factors that can lead to false-positive and -negative errors in the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, culminating in recommendations and strategies that can be implemented to identify and mitigate these errors. Recommendations include, stringent QA/QC measures, representative sampling approaches, effective virus concentration and efficient RNA extraction, amplification inhibition assessment, inclusion of sample processing controls, and considerations for RT-PCR assay selection and data interpretation. Clear data interpretation guidelines (e.g., determination of positive and negative samples) are critical, particularly during a low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Corrective and confirmatory actions must be in place for inconclusive and/or potentially significant results (e.g., initial onset or reemergence of COVID-19 in a community). It will also be prudent to perform inter-laboratory comparisons to ensure results are reliable and interpretable for ongoing and retrospective analyses. The strategies that are recommended in this review aim to improve SARS-CoV-2 characterization for wastewater surveillance applications. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the efficacy of wastewater surveillance was demonstrated during this global crisis. In the future, wastewater will play an important role in the surveillance of a range of other communicable diseases.

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