TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wilhelm, Alexander
A1  - Schoth, Jens
A1  - Meinert-Berning, Christina
A1  - Agrawal, Shelesh
A1  - Bastian, Daniel
A1  - Orschler, Laura
A1  - Ciesek, Sandra
A1  - Teichgräber, Burkhard
A1  - Wintgens, Thomas
A1  - Lackner, Susanne
A1  - Weber, Frank-Andreas
A1  - Widera, Marek
T1  - Wastewater surveillance allows early detection of SARS-CoV-2 omicron in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
T2  - Science of the total environment
N2  - Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has demonstrated its importance to support SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology complementing individual testing strategies. Due to their immune-evasive potential and the resulting significance for public health, close monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC) is required to evaluate the regulation of early local countermeasures. In this study, we demonstrate a rapid workflow for wastewater-based early detection and monitoring of the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 VoCs Omicron in the end of 2021 at the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) Emschermuendung (KLEM) in the Federal State of North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW, Germany).
Initially, available primers detecting Omicron-related mutations were rapidly validated in a central laboratory. Subsequently, RT-qPCR analysis of purified SARS-CoV-2 RNA was performed in a decentral PCR laboratory in close proximity to KLEM. This decentralized approach enabled the early detection of K417N present in Omicron in samples collected on 8th December 2021 and the detection of further mutations (N501Y, Δ69/70) in subsequent biweekly sampling campaigns. The presence of Omicron in wastewater was confirmed by next generation sequencing (NGS) in a central laboratory with samples obtained on 14th December 2021. Moreover, the relative increase of the mutant fraction of Omicron was quantitatively monitored over time by dPCR in a central PCR laboratory starting on 12th December 2021 confirming Omicron as the dominant variant by the end of 2021.
In conclusions, WBE plays a crucial role in surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants and is suitable as an early warning system to identify variant emergence. In particular, the successive workflow using RT-qPCR, RT-dPCR and NGS demonstrates the strength of WBE as a versatile tool to monitor variant spreading.
KW  - COVID-19 surveillance
KW  - SARS-CoV-2 monitoring
KW  - Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE)
KW  - Omicron
KW  - B.1.1.529
KW  - Variant of concern
KW  - Detection workflow
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/75955
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-759553
SN  - 0048-9697
VL  - 846
IS  - 157375
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -