COVID-19 SURVEILLANCE IN SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA USING WASTEWATER-BASED EPIDEMIOLOGY (Invited Presentation)

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) analyzes biomarkers in wastewater to characterize emerging chemicals, drug use patterns, or disease spread within communities. This approach can be particularly helpful in understanding disease outbreaks like the novel Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) when combined with clinical datasets. Three reverse transcription-droplet digital PCR assays (N1, N2, N3) were used to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA from weekly wastewater samples in southeastern Virginia. From March through July, SARS-CoV-2 concentrations and loads have steadily risen ahead of confirmed clinical cases. During the twenty-week study, SARS-CoV-2 concentrations ranged from 50 to 14000 genomic copies/100 mL in samples where viral RNA was detected. Fluctuations in population normalized loading rates in several of the wastewater treatment facilities service areas agreed with known outbreaks during the study. We propose several ways that data can be presented spatially and temporally to be of greatest use to public health officials.