Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Canada
Steve E. Hrudey,
Heather N. Bischel,
Jeff Charrois,
Alex H. S. Chik,
Bernadette Conant,
Rob Delatolla,
Sarah Dorner,
Tyson E. Graber,
Casey Hubert,
Judy Isaac-Renton,
Wendy Pons,
Hannah Safford,
Mark Servos,
Christopher Sikora
Affiliations
Steve E. Hrudey
Professor Emeritus, Analytical & Environmental Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G3 Canada
Heather N. Bischel
Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA
Jeff Charrois
Senior Manager, Analytical Operations and Process Development Teams, EPCOR Water Services Inc, Edmonton, AB T5K 0A5 Canada
Alex H. S. Chik
Project Manager, Wastewater Surveillance Initiative, Ontario Clean Water Agency, Mississauga, ON L5A 4G1 Canada
Bernadette Conant
Past Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Water Network, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
Rob Delatolla
Professor, Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 Canada
Sarah Dorner
Professor, Civil, Geological & Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, PQ H3T 1J4 Canada
Tyson E. Graber
Associate Scientist, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L1 Canada
Casey Hubert
Professor, Campus Alberta Innovates Program Chair in Geomicrobiology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Canada
Judy Isaac-Renton
Professor Emerita, Dept. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Calgary, AB, T2N 3V9 Canada
Wendy Pons
Professor, Bachelor of Environmental Health Program Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Kitchener, ON N2P 2N6 Canada
Hannah Safford
Associate Director of Science Policy, Federation of American Scientists, Arlington, VA 22205 USA
Mark Servos
Professor & Canada Research Chair, Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
Christopher Sikora
Medical Officer of Health, Edmonton Region, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4 Canada
Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA is a relatively recent adaptation of long-standing wastewater surveillance for infectious and other harmful agents. Individuals infected with COVID-19 were found to shed SARS-CoV-2 in their faeces. Researchers around the world confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments could be detected and quantified in community wastewater. Canadian academic researchers, largely as volunteer initiatives, reported proof-of-concept by April 2020. National collaboration was initially facilitated by the Canadian Water Network. Many public health officials were initially skeptical about actionable information being provided by wastewater surveillance even though experience has shown that public health surveillance for a pandemic has no single, perfect approach. Rather, different approaches provide different insights, each with its own strengths and limitations. Public health science must triangulate among different forms of evidence to maximize understanding of what is happening or may be expected. Well-conceived, resourced, and implemented wastewater-based platforms can provide a cost-effective approach to support other conventional lines of evidence. Sustaining wastewater monitoring platforms for future surveillance of other disease targets and health states is a challenge. Canada can benefit from taking lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to develop forward-looking interpretive frameworks and capacity to implement, adapt, and expand such public health surveillance capabilities.
