Sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at student campus residences in the Western Cape, South Africa

Noluxabiso Mangwana, Edward Archer, Christo J. F. Muller, Wolfgang Preiser, Gideon Wolfaardt, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Alno Carstens, Ludwig Brocker, Candice Webster, David McCarthy, Renee Street, Angela Mathee, Johan Louw, Mongezi Mdhluli, Rabia Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostic capacity is limited in defined communities, posing a challenge in tracking and tracing new infections. Monitoring student residences, which are considered infection hotspots, with targeted wastewater surveillance is crucial. This study evaluated the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 targeted wastewater surveillance for outbreak mitigation at Stellenbosch University's student residences in South Africa. Using torpedo-style passive sampling devices, wastewater samples were collected biweekly from manholes at twelve Stellenbosch University Tygerberg (SUT) campus and Stellenbosch University-Main (SUM) campus student residences. The surveillance led to an early warning detection of SARS-CoV-2 presence on campus, followed by an informed management strategy leading to restriction of student activities on campus and a delay in the onset of the third wave that was experienced throughout the country. Moreover, the study highlighted the extent of possible infections at defined locations even when a low number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were reported. The study also tracked the surge of the Delta and Omicron variants in the student residences using the Thermo Fisher TaqMan® RT-qPCR genotyping assay.

Original languageEnglish
Article number158028
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume851
Issue numberPart 1
Early online date13 Aug 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The research group would like to thank the UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund Agile Response call to address COVID-19 funding scheme, the Stellenbosch University Vice Rector special COVID-19 Fund for financial assistance. The work reported herein was made possible through funding by the South African Medical Research Council through its Division of Research Capacity Development under the Internship Scholarship Programme from funding received from the South African National Treasury. The content hereof is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the SAMRC or the funders. Special thank you to all the Facility Management staff from Stellenbosch University for assistance with the selection of sampling locations and student residence information. Special thank you to the sampling team at Stellenbosch University (Brighton Mutepfe, Tafadzwa Nyakubaya, Nothukela Mpazi, Ulrich van Zyl) and processing team at the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance & Research Programme (Anri Kotze, Clare Kimani, Kholofelo Malemela and Funanani Mashau) that made all the work possible. We would like to acknowledge the Western Cape Government for providing the daily clinical case data.

Funding Information:
The research group would like to thank the UKRI GCRF / Newton Fund Agile Response call to address COVID-19 funding scheme, the Stellenbosch University Vice Rector special COVID-19 Fund for financial assistance. The work reported herein was made possible through funding by the South African Medical Research Council through its Division of Research Capacity Development under the Internship Scholarship Programme from funding received from the South African National Treasury. The content hereof is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the SAMRC or the funders. Special thank you to all the Facility Management staff from Stellenbosch University for assistance with the selection of sampling locations and student residence information. Special thank you to the sampling team at Stellenbosch University (Brighton Mutepfe, Tafadzwa Nyakubaya, Nothukela Mpazi, Ulrich van Zyl) and processing team at the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance & Research Programme (Anri Kotze, Clare Kimani, Kholofelo Malemela and Funanani Mashau) that made all the work possible. We would like to acknowledge the Western Cape Government for providing the daily clinical case data.

Funding

The research group would like to thank the UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund Agile Response call to address COVID-19 funding scheme, the Stellenbosch University Vice Rector special COVID-19 Fund for financial assistance. The work reported herein was made possible through funding by the South African Medical Research Council through its Division of Research Capacity Development under the Internship Scholarship Programme from funding received from the South African National Treasury. The content hereof is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the SAMRC or the funders. Special thank you to all the Facility Management staff from Stellenbosch University for assistance with the selection of sampling locations and student residence information. Special thank you to the sampling team at Stellenbosch University (Brighton Mutepfe, Tafadzwa Nyakubaya, Nothukela Mpazi, Ulrich van Zyl) and processing team at the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance & Research Programme (Anri Kotze, Clare Kimani, Kholofelo Malemela and Funanani Mashau) that made all the work possible. We would like to acknowledge the Western Cape Government for providing the daily clinical case data. The research group would like to thank the UKRI GCRF / Newton Fund Agile Response call to address COVID-19 funding scheme, the Stellenbosch University Vice Rector special COVID-19 Fund for financial assistance. The work reported herein was made possible through funding by the South African Medical Research Council through its Division of Research Capacity Development under the Internship Scholarship Programme from funding received from the South African National Treasury. The content hereof is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the SAMRC or the funders. Special thank you to all the Facility Management staff from Stellenbosch University for assistance with the selection of sampling locations and student residence information. Special thank you to the sampling team at Stellenbosch University (Brighton Mutepfe, Tafadzwa Nyakubaya, Nothukela Mpazi, Ulrich van Zyl) and processing team at the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance & Research Programme (Anri Kotze, Clare Kimani, Kholofelo Malemela and Funanani Mashau) that made all the work possible. We would like to acknowledge the Western Cape Government for providing the daily clinical case data.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Institution
  • Near-source WBE
  • Passive sampling
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Student campus residences
  • Wastewater
  • Wastewater-based epidemiology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Pollution

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