- Title
- Quantitative microbial risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples collected from selected wastewater treatment plants in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Creator
- Ntlati, Piwe Athi
- Subject
- SARS coronavirus 2 disease
- Subject
- SARS-CoV-2 disease
- Subject
- COVID-19 (Disease)
- Date Issued
- 2023
- Date
- 2023
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/29900
- Identifier
- vital:79185
- Description
- The emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 SARS-CoV-2 infection which is the causative agent of Coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 took the world off-guard. The unprecedented pandemic which thought to have originated in Wuhan, China and spread to over 230 countries to date caused more than 690 million positive cases and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide. Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 vary from mild to severe symptoms which includes coughing, pneumonia, respiratory difficulties, and can lead to death. The inhalation of aerosols or respiratory droplets from a COVID-19 infected person are the major transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater influent samples and estimated the potential health risks of wastewater treatment plants WWTPs workers exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in Buffalo City Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. WWTPs influent samples were collected by grab sampling from six WWTPs for a period of 12 months. Viral RNA was extracted using QIAGEN RNeasy PowerSoil Total RNA extraction Kit, following the manufacturer’s guidelines and NanodropTM spectrophotometer was used to measure the respective concentrations and ascertain the purity of the total viral RNA. The extracted viral RNA was profiled for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genome by Quantitative Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction qRT-PCR technique. Our results showed the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 genomes in influent samples collected from both the urban and peri-urban communities located WWTPs with viral loads ranging from 2.34 × 101 genome copies/ml to 1.08 × 105 genome copies/ml in 220 89.4 percent of the 246 wastewater-influent samples. In addition, quantitative microbial risk assessment QMRA model was applied to assess the probability of infection to WWTP operators. Three different exposure scenarios were employed for the model and results indicated that the probability of infection was significantly different P<0.05 with respect to the different volumetric scenarios 2mL, 10mL, and 20mL and with respect to the four seasons across the plants. In conclusion, this study highlights the public health concern that WWTPs pose as channels for the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 into the environment and suggests the need for regular wastewater surveillance and frequent microbial water quality monitoring through relevant wastewater-based epidemiology models for the prompt detection of potential SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens and assist in predicting future outbreaks in the communities.
- Description
- Thesis (MSci) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2023
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiii, 83 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science and Agriculture
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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- Visitors: 5
- Downloads: 1
Collections
UFH Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | PIWE ATHI NTLATI DISSERTATION.pdf | 30 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |