Investigation of Coronavirus RNA in Hospital Wastewater and Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants in Ardabil Province

Since 2019, the spread of the coronavirus has caused an epidemic worldwide, and the transmission of the disease through respiratory droplets has been declared as the primary method of transmission in 2020. However, in this study, the indirect transmission of the virus through sewage has been investigated.

Wastewater related to hospital and urban wastewater treatment plants in 5 regions of Ardabil province (northwest of Iran) were investigated. A total of 22 samples were kept in pre-test conditions (temperature -20 degrees Celsius) and were used to identify the viral genome. Specific primer and chain reaction probes targeting ORF1ab and N (nucleoprotein gene) genes were used.

In this research, out of all the samples collected, the result of 3 samples was positive. All three positive samples are related to incoming sewage.

The results of this research showed that sewage epidemiology (WBE) can be considered a cost-effective method for diagnosing and predicting pathogenic agents and an effective method for making decisions to protect citizens' health.