Browsing by Author "Bertsch, Paul"
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- Minimizing Errors in RT-PCR Detection and Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for Wastewater SurveillancePublication . Ahmed, Warish; Simpson, Stuart; Bertsch, Paul; Bibby, Kyle; Bivins, Aaron; Blackall, Linda; Bofill-Mas, Silvia; Bosch, Albert; Brandao, Joao; Choi, Phil; Ciesielski, Mark; Donner, Erica; D'Souza, Nishita; Farnleitner, Andreas; Gerrity, Daniel; Gonzalez, Raul; Griffith, John; Gyawali, Pradip; Haas, Charles; Hamilton, Kerry; Hapuarachchi, Chanditha; Harwood, Valerie; Haque, Rehnuma; Jackson, Greg; Khan, Stuart; Khan, Wesaal; Kitajima, Masaaki; Korajkic, Asja; La Rosa, Giuseppina; Layton, Blythe; Lipp, Erin; McLellan, Sandra; McMinn, Brian; Medema, Gertjan; Metcalfe, Suzanne; Meijer, Wim; Mueller, Jochen; Murphy, Heather; Naughton, Colleen; Noble, Rachel; Payyappat, Sudhi; Petterson, Susan; Pitkanen, Tarja; Rajal, Veronica; Reyneke, Brandon; Roman, Fernando; Rose, Joan; Rusinol, Marta; Sadowsky, Michael; Sala-Comorera, Laura; Setoh, Yin Xiang; Sherchan, Samendra; Sirikanchana, Kwanrawee; Smith, Wendy; Steele, Joshua; Sabburg, Rosalie; Symonds, Erin; Thai, Phong; Thomas, Kevin; Tynan, Josh; Toze, Simon; Thompson, Janelle; Whiteley, Andy; Wong, Judith; Sano, Daisuke; Wuertz, Stefan; Xagoraraki, Irene; Zhang, Qian; Zimmer-Faust, Amity; Shanks, OrinWastewater surveillance for pathogens using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is an effective, resource-efficient tool for gathering additional community-level public health information, including the incidence and/or prevalence and trends of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater may provide an early-warning signal of COVID-19 infections in a community. The capacity of the world’s environmental microbiology and virology laboratories for SARS-CoV-2 RNA characterization in wastewater is rapidly increasing. However, there are no standardized protocols nor harmonized quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. This paper is a technical review of factors that can lead to false-positive and -negative errors in the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, culminating in recommendations and strategies that can be implemented to identify and mitigate these errors. Recommendations include, stringent QA/QC measures, representative sampling approaches, effective virus concentration and efficient RNA extraction, amplification inhibition assessment, inclusion of sample processing controls, and considerations for RT-PCR assay selection and data interpretation. Clear data interpretation guidelines (e.g., determination of positive and negative samples) are critical, particularly during a low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Corrective and confirmatory actions must be in place for inconclusive and/or potentially significant results (e.g., initial onset or reemergence of COVID-19 in a community). It will also be prudent to perform inter-laboratory comparisons to ensure results are reliable and interpretable for ongoing and retrospective analyses. The strategies that are recommended in this review aim to improve SARS-CoV-2 characterization for wastewater surveillance applications. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that the efficacy of wastewater surveillance was demonstrated during this global crisis. In the future, wastewater will play an important role in the surveillance of a range of other communicable diseases.