In recent years, testing untreated wastewater for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and dominant viral variants, as well as other pathogens, has been instrumental in helping public health officials determine infectious disease transmission in local communities. However, this surveillance only captures data on viruses excreted through human feces and urine in buildings connected to the local sewer infrastructure. Beyond the pandemic’s effect on human health, it has also exacerbated socio-economic hardship and increased the number of people experiencing homelessness and living in outdoor camps without access to indoor toilets. To understand the prevalence of COVID-19 among other people living without shelter, Oh and his colleagues tested for SARS-CoV-2 in waterways near campgrounds outside Las Vegas starting in December. 2021 to July 2022.
Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in more than 25% of samples analyzed in two flood control canals. The increased frequency of onion trips during the study period corresponds to the first wave of omicron variant infections in Las Vegas, as demonstrated by parallel testing at a local wastewater treatment plant. Researchers say those findings suggest that a similar point of transmission was occurring within the homeless network as among the general population. Next, the researchers performed whole genome sequencing to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants in waterways. These samples contained largely the same variants known in the broader network. Additional computational investigations of viral sequences found three new mutations of the viral spike protein in some waterway samples, but the researchers have not yet tested the effect those mutations might have on viral functions or outcomes in clinics. Regardless, the ability to find and identify SARS-CoV-2 in environmental water samples may help improve public health measures for a network underrepresented in existing surveillance strategies. Array researchers also say that monitoring waterways may simply alert health officials to unanticipated variants circulating on the internet.
The authors acknowledge investment from the National Institutes of Health, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U. S. Geological Survey’s Water Resources Research Institute.
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