Building-Level Detection Threshold of SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater
Nicole C. Rondeau, Oliver J. Rose, Ellen R. Alt, Lina A. Ariyan, Annabelle B. Elikan, Jenna Everard, Abigail R. Schreier, Maya E. Tessler, Grace H. Tulinsky, Janet R. Vo, Caroline A. Ray, Cynthia Yang, JJ L. Miranda, Brian J. Mailloux
Abstract
Diagnostic testing of sewage can detect levels of circulating viruses to help inform public health. Wastewater-based epidemiology has been particularly active during the COVID-19 pandemic to measure the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2. Understanding the technical limitations of diagnostic testing for individual buildings would help inform future surveillance programs. We report our diagnostic and clinical data monitoring of buildings on a college campus in New York City during the spring 2021 semester. Frequent nasal testing, mitigation measures, and public health protocols provided a context in which to study the effectiveness of wastewater-based epidemiology. Our efforts could not consistently detect individual positive COVID-19 cases, but sensitivity is significantly improved in detecting two simultaneous cases. We therefore contend that wastewater surveillance may be more practically suited for the mitigation of outbreak clusters.