Title of the project: Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 from community and hospital wastewater treatment plants in Udupi

Duration: 2022-23

Funds/Grant name:?Science and Engineering 沙巴体育 Board (SERB)

Brief description of the project:

?

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus -2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global catastrophe worldwide. For timely monitoring and effective control of outbreak's wastewater-based SARS-CoV-2 surveillance strategy has been implemented in many countries. SARS-CoV-2 is primarily transmitted through small respiratory droplets; however, recent studies have reported the presence of live virus and shedding through faeces and urine. Faeces and urine from COVID-19-infected patients discharged into sewer systems and subsequently into wastewater treatment systems are considered the primary means for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in water and wastewater. Another mode is through used face masks that are disposed of without disinfection into surface water or sewers.

?

The proposed study is under Science and Engineering 沙巴体育 Board (SERB), planned in four Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) of Udupi district, Karnataka. Udupi is situated in a coastal region with a population of about 11.7 lakhs. During the 1 year of project duration, a total of 1000 inlet samples will be collected from the 4 WTTP. Collected samples will be transported to the 沙巴体育 Institute of Virology (MIV). MIV has a Biosafety level-2 (BSL-2) laboratory that adheres strictly to the biosafety guidelines. Collected WWTPs samples will be processed and tested for SARS-CoV-2. Samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 in real-time RT-PCR will be further subjected to whole genome sequencing (WGS). WGS data will be subjected to further analysis in comparison to reference strains to determine mutant residues and identify variants

?

Wastewater-based epidemiological (WBE) study will provide insights about the application of WBE of SARS-CoV-2 as a complementary approach for effective COVID-19 surveillance in India. It might serve as a promising approach to detect early warning of COVID-19 outbreaks and provide evidence for public health policymakers to allocate resources and plan large-scale environmental surveillance studies in multiple states. Wastewater-based genomic surveillance might also be a potential tool for monitoring circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2. Assessing the population's immunity to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants may help design better vaccines and drugs. Since about 40% of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic, continuous environmental surveillance might be the only feasible way to detect transmission in the community in future.

?