Evaluating the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in the urban water cycle

2019新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是一种急性呼吸道疾病，于2020年初首次引起世界卫生组织的关注。引起COVID-19的病原体是SARS-CoV-2，它是冠状病毒家族的一员。最近来自三大洲的研究表明，污水处理厂（WWTP）的污水中存在SARS-CoV-2，这与粪便中的病毒一致。基于这一证据，我们假设SARS-CoV-2将在加拿大市政污水处理厂的进水中检测到。虽然人们普遍认为，传统的废水处理有效地减少了病毒载量，但处理在去除SARS-CoV-2方面的功效尚不清楚。即使废水处理是成功的，许多城市经历工厂旁路事件，未经处理或部分处理的污水直接排放到接收沃茨。在这些情况下，尚不清楚SARS-CoV-2如果从污水处理厂排放物中释放出来，将在环境中持续多久。与我们的合作伙伴在湖岸镇，对和阿默斯特堡，对镇，我们将解决两个研究目标： 1)从污水监测中评估社区感染发生率的趋势/变化 2)评估SARS-CoV-2在废水中的持久性： a.使用替代噬菌体 B.在旁路事件期间 从这项研究中获得的信息将告知市政当局废水处理的最佳做法，以解决我们的供水安全问题，并建立应对未来流行病的能力。流入物中病毒载量的数据将代替对个人的单细胞检测，为评估社区感染趋势提供替代，并将为可能的“第二波”感染提供预警。该伙伴关系还提供了机会，以测试与SARS-CoV-2在排入环境时的持久性有关的假设，在这种情况下，是圣克莱尔湖和底特律河五大湖关注区。

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory disease which first came to the attention of the World Health Organization in early 2020. The pathogen responsible for COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2, a member of the coronavirus family. Recent research from three continents has demonstrated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) consistent with the virus being shed in feces. Based on this evidence, we hypothesize that SARS-CoV-2 will be detected in the influent of municipal WWTPs in Canada. While it is generally assumed that conventional wastewater treatment effectively reduces viral load, the efficacy of treatment in removing SARS-CoV-2 is not known. Even if wastewater treatment is successful, many municipalities experience plant bypass events whereby untreated or partially treated sewage is discharged directly into receiving waters. In these cases, it is not known how long SARS-CoV-2 will persist in the environment if released from WWTP effluent. Working with our partners at the Town of Lakeshore, ON and the Town of Amherstburg, ON, we will address two research objectives: 1) to assess trends/changes in occurrence of community infection from sewage surveillance 2) to evaluate persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater effluent: a. using surrogate phage b. during a bypass event Information gained from this study will inform municipalities on best practices in wastewater treatment to address the safety of our water supply and build capability to address future pandemics. Data on viral load in influent will provide a proxy to assess trends in community infections in lieu of widescale testing of individuals and will provide early warning to a possible 'second wave' of infection. The partnership also offers opportunities to test hypotheses related to persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on occasions when it is discharged to the environment, in this case Lake St. Clair and the binational Detroit River Great Lakes Area of Concern.