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

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028

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 journal › Article › peer-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 language	English
Article number	158028
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	851
Issue number	Part 1
Early online date	13 Aug 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028
Publication status	Published - 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

Access to Document

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Mangwana, N., Archer, E., Muller, C. J. F., Preiser, W., Wolfaardt, G., Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Carstens, A., Brocker, L., Webster, C., McCarthy, D., Street, R., Mathee, A., Louw, J., Mdhluli, M., & Johnson, R. (2022). Sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at student campus residences in the Western Cape, South Africa. Science of the Total Environment, 851(Part 1), Article 158028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028

Mangwana, N, Archer, E, Muller, CJF, Preiser, W, Wolfaardt, G, Kasprzyk-Hordern, B, Carstens, A, Brocker, L, Webster, C, McCarthy, D, Street, R, Mathee, A, Louw, J, Mdhluli, M & Johnson, R 2022, 'Sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at student campus residences in the Western Cape, South Africa', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 851, no. Part 1, 158028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158028

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

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{\textregistered} RT-qPCR genotyping assay.",

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

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. ",

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund : Building an Early Warning System for community-wide infectious disease spread: SARS-CoV-2 tracking in Africa via environment fingerprinting- COVID-19

Cite this

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

UKRI GCRF/Newton Fund : Building an Early Warning System for community-wide infectious disease spread: SARS-CoV-2 tracking in Africa via environment fingerprinting- COVID-19

Cite this