O-33 The Public Health importance of Detecting Enveloped and Non-Enveloped Viruses in Wastewater
Author(s):
K Farmer-Diaz, M Matthew-Bernard, S Cheetham, K Mitchell, C Macpherson, ME Ramos-Nino
Year of Presentation:
2024
Objective: Improvement of wastewater surveillance tools aimed at recovery of enveloped and non-enveloped viruses in wastewater to facilitate the implementation of public health emergency programs
Methods: Composite wastewater samples were collected. The first aliquot (non-flocculated control) was spiked with a known concentration of: 1) Pseudomonas syringae virulent phage 6 (Phi 6), an enveloped virus, and 2) the coliphage MS2, a non-enveloped virus. Two Methods were evaluated: Method 1 was an aluminium driven flocculation system that used acidification at pH 3.5 before spiking with the viruses. Method 2 was an aluminium driven flocculation system that used acidification at pH 6.0. Viral RNA was extracted, and RT-qPCR performed.
Results: The average Ct reduction of Phi 6 and MS2 show a higher yield for Method 2 than Method 1: Phi 6 ( -2.79 ±3.16 [CI 95% -5.95 – 0.37] Method 1 and 3.45 ±2.5 [CI 95% 0.92 – 5.98] Method 2) and MS2 (0.06 ±3.64 [CI 95% -3.58– 3.70] Method 1 and 3.91 ±1.67 [CI 95% 2.234 – 5.582] Method 2). The student’s t test found a significant difference at 95% confidence in the recovery of Phi 6 (p=0.001) and MS2 (p=0.02) between the two methods.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the aluminium concentration with acidification to pH 6.0 before flocculation can successfully be implemented to concentrate and recover both enveloped (like SAR-CoV-2) and non-enveloped viruses for Public Health surveillance.