Rapid, Large-Scale Wastewater Surveillance and Automated Reporting System Enable Early Detection of Nearly 85% of COVID-19 Cases on a University Campus

Smruthi Karthikeyan; Andrew Nguyen; Daniel McDonald; Yijian Zong; Nancy Ronquillo; Junting Ren; Jingjing Zou; Sawyer Farmer; Greg Humphrey; Diana Henderson; Tara Javidi; Karen Messer; Cheryl Anderson; Robert Schooley; Natasha K. Martin; Rob Knight

doi:10.1128/mSystems.00793-21

mSystems (Aug 2021)

Rapid, Large-Scale Wastewater Surveillance and Automated Reporting System Enable Early Detection of Nearly 85% of COVID-19 Cases on a University Campus

Smruthi Karthikeyan,
Andrew Nguyen,
Daniel McDonald,
Yijian Zong,
Nancy Ronquillo,
Junting Ren,
Jingjing Zou,
Sawyer Farmer,
Greg Humphrey,
Diana Henderson,
Tara Javidi,
Karen Messer,
Cheryl Anderson,
Robert Schooley,
Natasha K. Martin,
Rob Knight

Affiliations

Smruthi Karthikeyan: ORCiD; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Andrew Nguyen: Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Daniel McDonald: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Yijian Zong: Halicioglu Data Science Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Nancy Ronquillo: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Junting Ren: Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Jingjing Zou: Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Sawyer Farmer: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Greg Humphrey: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Diana Henderson: Campus Planning, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Tara Javidi: Halicioglu Data Science Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Karen Messer: Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Cheryl Anderson: Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Robert Schooley: Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Natasha K. Martin: Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
Rob Knight: ORCiD; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00793-21
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 6, no. 4

Abstract

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Wastewater-based epidemiology can be particularly valuable at university campuses where high-resolution spatial sampling in a well-controlled context could not only provide insight into what affects campus community as well as how those inferences can be extended to a broader city/county context. In the present study, a large-scale wastewater surveillance was successfully implemented on a large university campus enabling early detection of 85% of COVID-19 cases thereby averting potential outbreaks.

Published in mSystems

ISSN: 2379-5077 (Online)
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science: Microbiology
Website: https://journals.asm.org/journal/msystems

About the journal