Steve E. Hrudey


2022

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Emergence and Spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant in Alberta Communities Revealed by Wastewater Monitoring
Casey R. J. Hubert, Nicole Acosta, Barbara Waddell, Maria E. Hasing, Yuanyuan Qiu, Meghan Fuzzen, Nathanael B.J. Harper, María Bautista, Tiejun Gao, Chloe Papparis, Jenn Van Doorn, Kristine Du, Kevin Xiang, Leslie Chan, Laura Vivas, Puja Pradhan, Janine McCalder, Kashtin Low, Whitney England, John Conly, M. Cathryn Ryan, Gopal Achari, Jia Hu, Jason Cabaj, Chris Sikora, Larry Svenson, Nathan Zelyas, Mark R. Servos, Jon Meddings, Steve E. Hrudey, Kevin J. Frankowski, Michael D. Parkins, Xiaoli Pang, Bonita E. Lee

Abstract Wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 allows for early detection and monitoring of COVID-19 burden in communities and can track specific variants of concern. Targeted assays enabled relative proportions of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta variants to be determined across 30 municipalities covering >75% of the province of Alberta (pop. 4.5M) in Canada, from November 2021 to January 2022. Larger cities like Calgary and Edmonton exhibited a more rapid emergence of Omicron relative to smaller and more remote municipalities. Notable exceptions were Banff, a small international resort town, and Fort McMurray, a more remote northern city with a large fly-in worker population. The integrated wastewater signal revealed that the Omicron variant represented close to 100% of SARS-CoV-2 burden prior to the observed increase in newly diagnosed clinical cases throughout Alberta, which peaked two weeks later. These findings demonstrate that wastewater monitoring offers early and reliable population-level results for establishing the extent and spread of emerging pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 variants.

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Tracking Emergence and Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant in Large and Small Communities by Wastewater Monitoring in Alberta, Canada
Casey R. J. Hubert, Nicole Acosta, Barbara Waddell, Maria E. Hasing, Yuanyuan Qiu, Meghan Fuzzen, Nathanael B.J. Harper, María Bautista, Tiejun Gao, Chloe Papparis, Jenn Van Doorn, Kristine Du, Kevin Xiang, Leslie Chan, Laura Vivas, Puja Pradhan, Janine McCalder, Kashtin Low, Whitney England, Darina Kuzma, John Conly, M. Cathryn Ryan, Gopal Achari, Jia Hu, Jason Cabaj, Chris Sikora, Larry Svenson, Nathan Zelyas, Mark R. Servos, Jon Meddings, Steve E. Hrudey, Kevin J. Frankowski, Michael D. Parkins, Xiaoli Pang, Bonita E. Lee
Emerging Infectious Diseases, Volume 28, Issue 9

Abstract Wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 enables early detection and monitoring of the COVID-19 disease burden in communities and can track specific variants of concern. We determined proportions of the Omicron and Delta variants across 30 municipalities covering >75% of the province of Alberta (population 4.5 million), Canada, during November 2021–January 2022. Larger cities Calgary and Edmonton exhibited more rapid emergence of Omicron than did smaller and more remote municipalities. Notable exceptions were Banff, a small international resort town, and Fort McMurray, a medium-sized northern community that has many workers who fly in and out regularly. The integrated wastewater signal revealed that the Omicron variant represented close to 100% of SARS-CoV-2 burden by late December, before the peak in newly diagnosed clinical cases throughout Alberta in mid-January. These findings demonstrate that wastewater monitoring offers early and reliable population-level results for establishing the extent and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

2021

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Comparison of approaches to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater using RT-qPCR: Results and implications from a collaborative inter-laboratory study in Canada
Alex H. S. Chik, Melissa B. Glier, Mark R. Servos, Chand Mangat, Xiaoli Pang, Yuanyuan Qiu, Patrick M. D’Aoust, Jean-Baptiste Burnet, Robert Delatolla, Sarah Dorner, Qiudi Geng, John P. Giesy, R. Michael L. McKay, Michael R. Mulvey, Natalie Prystajecky, Nivetha Srikanthan, Yuwei Xie, Bernadette Conant, Steve E. Hrudey
Journal of Environmental Sciences, Volume 107

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater is a promising tool for informing public health decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, approaches for its analysis by use of reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) are still far from standardized globally. To characterize inter- and intra-laboratory variability among results when using various methods deployed across Canada, aliquots from a real wastewater sample were spiked with surrogates of SARS-CoV-2 (gamma-radiation inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and human coronavirus strain 229E [HCoV-229E]) at low and high levels then provided "blind" to eight laboratories. Concentration estimates reported by individual laboratories were consistently within a 1.0-log10 range for aliquots of the same spiked condition. All laboratories distinguished between low- and high-spikes for both surrogates. As expected, greater variability was observed in the results amongst laboratories than within individual laboratories, but SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration estimates for each spiked condition remained mostly within 1.0-log10 ranges. The no-spike wastewater aliquots provided yielded non-detects or trace levels (<20 gene copies/mL) of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Detections appear linked to methods that included or focused on the solids fraction of the wastewater matrix and might represent in-situ SARS-CoV-2 to the wastewater sample. HCoV-229E RNA was not detected in the no-spike aliquots. Overall, all methods yielded comparable results at the conditions tested. Partitioning behavior of SARS-CoV-2 and spiked surrogates in wastewater should be considered to evaluate method effectiveness. A consistent method and laboratory to explore wastewater SARS-CoV-2 temporal trends for a given system, with appropriate quality control protocols and documented in adequate detail should succeed.