Investigation of the Presence of Coronavirus in Shahroud City Wastewater Collection Network and Treatment Plant

In recent years, an outbreak of a new coronavirus, scientifically known as SARS-CoV-2, has led to a worldwide new infectious disease called Covid-19. Based on some reports, this virus stays after infection in the feces and consequently in the wastewater up to seven months, so examining its presence in the wastewater can be useful to understand how the disease is distributed in different parts of the city or region. This study aimed to investigate the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in different parts of the Shahroud city wastewater collection network and treatment plant.

The 35 wastewater samples were collected from different partsof the wastewater collection network and wastewater treatment plant of Shahroud city. The samples were immediately transferred to the SARS-CoV-2 reference laboratory and concentrated by the polyethylene glycol (PEG) method. After extraction of the virus genome, the viral genome was amplified to check the presence of this virus by PCR method.

The results showed that 11 of the 35 wastewater collected samples were positive. All samples taken from the influent of the municipal wastewater treatment plant were positive. Also, except for one, in all of the samples taken from the effluent of the municipal wastewater treatment plant and Imam Hossein (AS) Hospital wastewater plant, coronavirus was observed. However, only one sample taken from the wastewater collection network of Shahroud city was positive.

Due to the confirmation of the presence of Coronavirus in the wastewater collection network and treatment plant, regular monitoring of municipal wastewater is recommended to predict the spread of a new wave of disease in the community.