Executive Summary : | Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has been playing havoc with an unfolding saga (WHO, 2020). As of February 25, 2022, there have been 428,760,419 confirmed cases, including 5,928,528 deaths. Researchers have recently shown that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is excreted via faeces and can thus be introduced into untreated wastewater. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been identified as a population-wide infectious disease surveillance and early warning tool for the detection of infectious diseases outbreaks. Scientists and public health officials have raised the alarm about novel strains of the SARS-CoV-2 that have emerged in the UK (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1), California (B.1.429) and New York (B.1.526). Interestingly, all the emerging cases those including Omicron are either with asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic transmission as we firmly reason that prompt detection, early surveillance, and further diagnosis would allow a decisive response to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak that will bring disease control and prevention efforts. Our recent studies by Arora et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021b, 2022 demonstrate the feasibility of measuring SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater samples by RT-qPCR, both to inform population-level risk across settings and for early identification of potential COVID-19 hotspots since the first wave in Jaipur as well as early detection of variants of concerns viz delta variant (B.1.617.2). The DISCOVER-WBE project aims to improve understanding of population exposure to communicable viral diseases including COVID-19 in catchment areas of Jaipur city (India), an area which has seen exponential growth in SARS-CoV-2 infections. Using established methodologies, we will specifically identify and track the transmission of coronavirus through the detection of viral genetic components in wastewater samples collected from the transit spots and from within the city. We have already developed and optimised protocols for the quantitative recovery of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater samples. The project aims to detect COVID-19 RNA in sewered and non-sewered sanitation systems (STPs & pumping stations) from Jaipur every week for 8 Months to cover maximum sewerage network of Jaipur city, and hospitals, airports, bus stands, railway stations, etc. (with higher probability to capture the prevalent COVID-19 strains for early detection) in Jaipur district (n=50 samples weekly, total 1600 samples collected in 8 months). In Addition, weekly samples (approx. 30 samples) will be pooled and sent for sequencing for strains analysis. In this way, we can assess the utility of WBE for predicting outbreaks of any new SARS-CoV-2 variants which will enhance preparedness for the next unforeseen infectious disease outbreak and inform the design of preventative strategies, such as stricter administrative protocols to vaccine development. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Akhilendra Bhushan Gupta, Malaviya National Institute Of Technology Jaipur, Rajasthan-302017, Dr. Prashanth N Suravajhala, Birla Institute Of Scientific Research, Jaipur, Rajasthan-302001, Dr. Aditi Nag, Dr. B.Lal Institute Of Biotechnology, Jaipur, Rajasthan-302017 |