RT Journal Article
T1 Detection of environmental SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA in a high prevalence setting in Spain
A1 Fernández de Mera, Isabel G.
A1 Rodríguez del Río, Francisco J.
A1 Fuente, José
A1 Pérez Sancho, Marta
A1 Hervás, Dolores
A1 Moreno, Inmaculada
A1 Domínguez, Mercedes
A1 Domínguez Rodríguez, Lucas José
A1 Gortázar, Christian
AB Since March 2020, Spain (along with many other countries) has been severely affected by the ongoing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the rapid spread of a new virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SARS-CoV-2). As part of global efforts to improve disease surveillance, we investigated how readily SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected in environmental samples collected from an isolated rural community in Spain with a high COVID-19 prevalence (6% of the population of 883 inhabitants). The first diagnosis of COVID-19-compatible symptoms in the village was recorded on 3 March 2020, and the last known active case resolved on 5 June 2020. By 15 May, two months after strict movement constraints were imposed (‘lockdown’), and the cumulative number of symptomatic cases had increased to 53. Of those cases, 22 (41%) had been tested and confirmed by RT-PCR. On 13 May and 5 June, samples were collected from high-use surfaces and clothes in the homes of 13 confirmed cases, from surfaces in nine public service sites (e.g. supermarket and petrol station) and from the wastewater of the village sewage system. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 7 of 57 (12%) samples, including three households and three public sites. While there is not yet sufficient evidence to recommend environmental surveillance as a standard approach for COVID-19 epidemiology, environmental surveillance research may contribute to advance knowledge about COVID-19 by further elucidating virus shedding dynamics and environmental contamination, including the potential identification of animal reservoirs.
PB Wiley
SN 1865-1674
SN 1865-1682
YR 2020
FD 2020-09-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/111213
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/111213
LA eng
NO Fernandez de Mera IG, Rodriguez del Rio FJ, de la Fuente J, Perez-Sancho M, Hervas D, Moreno I, Dominguez M, Dominguez L and Gortazar C*. Detection of environmental SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a high prevalence setting in Spain. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 68(3):1487-1492. 2021. (A). ISSN: 1865-1674. Impact factor: 4.521. Category: Infectious Diseases, Quartile: 1, Position: 44 of 94. DOI: 10.1111/tbed.13817
NO Authors ContributionsFR, IG and CG planned the study. Field data and samples werecollected by FR, DH and CG. MD, LD, MP and IM performed laboratory procedures for environmental sampling. IG and JF performed and interpreted the RT-PCR testing. Data analysis was led by CG, IG and FR. All authors interpreted the study findings,contributed to the manuscript and approved the final version for publication.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis study had no specific funding although we benefitted from Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha support through the COVID Diagnosis Action. We would like to thank the local veterinarianJavier Camarena, the local healthcare staff and the municipality of Horcajo de los Montes for help in wastewater sampling and logistics, and for providing detailed information on disinfection and patientsupport activities. Mariana Boadella (Sabiotec, Ciudad Real, Spain) kindly provided the sponges. IGFM is supported by the Research Plan of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain.
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 abr 2025