Occurrence of multiple respiratory viruses in wastewater in Queensland, Australia: Potential for community disease surveillance

The early warning and tracking of COVID-19 prevalence in the community provided by wastewater surveillance has highlighted its potential for much broader viral disease surveillance. In this proof-of-concept study, 46 wastewater samples from four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Queensland, Australia, were analyzed for the presence and abundance of 13 respiratory viruses, and the results were compared with reported clinical cases. The viruses were concentrated using the adsorption-extraction (AE) method, and extracted nucleic acids were analyzed using qPCR and RT-qPCR. Among the viruses tested, bocavirus (BoV), parechovirus (PeV), rhinovirus A (RhV A) and rhino-virus B (RhV B) were detected in all wastewater samples. All the tested viruses except influenza B virus (IBV) were de-tected in wastewater sample from at least one WWTP. BoV was detected with the greatest concentration (4.96-7.22 log10 GC/L), followed by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (4.08-6.46 log10 GC/L), RhV A (3.95-5.63 log10 GC/L), RhV B (3.74-5.61 log10 GC/L), and PeV (3.17-5.32 log10 GC/L). Influenza viruses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are notifiable conditions in Queensland, allowing the gene copy (GC) concentrations to be compared with reported clinical cases. Significant correlations (rho = 0.60, p < 0.01 for IAV and rho = 0.53, p < 0.01 for RSV) were observed when pooled wastewater influenza A virus (IAV) and RSV log10 GC/L concentrations were compared to log10 clinical cases among the four WWTP catchments. The positive predictive value for the presence of IAV and RSV in wastewater was 97 a/o for both IAV and RSV clinical cases within the four WWTP catchments. The overall accuracy of wastewater analysis for predicting clinical cases of IAV and RSV was 97 and 90 a/o, respectively. This paper lends credibility to the application of wastewater surveillance to monitor respiratory viruses of various genomic characteristics, with potential uses for in-creased surveillance capabilities and as a tool in understanding the dynamics of disease circulation in the communities.

Automated summary

This study analyzed wastewater samples from four wastewater treatment plants in Queensland, Australia, and found the presence of 13 respiratory viruses. The results were compared with clinical cases, showing the potential of wastewater surveillance in viral disease monitoring. The most commonly detected viruses were bocavirus, parechovirus, rhinovirus A, and rhinovirus B.