Human viral pathogens in the wastewater-source water-drinking water continuum: evidence, health risks, and lessons for future outbreaks in low-income settings

Human viral pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2 continue to attract public and research attention due to their disruption of society, global health, and the economy. Several earlier reviews have investigated the occurrence and fate of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, and the potential to use such data in wastewater-based epidemiology. However, comprehensive reviews tracking SARS-CoV-2 and other viral pathogens in the wastewater-water-drinking water continuum and the associated risk assessment are still lacking. Therefore, to address this gap, the present paper makes the following contributions: (1) critically examines the early empirical results to highlight the occurrence and stability of SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater-source water-drinking water continuum, (2) discusses the anthropogenic and hydro(geo)logical processes controlling the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater-source water-drinking water continuum, (3) discusses the risky behaviour, drivers and high-risk settings in the wastewater-source water-drinking water continuum, (4) uses the available empirical data on SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in the wastewater-source water-drinking water continuum to discuss human health risks from multiple exposure pathways, gendered aspects of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via shared on-site sanitation systems, and (5) develops and risk mitigation strategy based on the available empirical evidence and quantitative human risk assessment data. Finally, it presents a comprehensive research agenda on SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 to guide the mitigation of future similar outbreaks in low-income settings.

• Autores: Gwenzi, Willis; Adelodun, Bashir; Kumar, Pankaj; Odedishemi Ajibade, Fidelis; Silva Oliveira, Luis Felipe; Sook Choi, Kyung; Selvarajan, Ramganesh; King Abia, Akebe Luther; Gholipour, Sahar; Mohammadi, Farzaneh; Nikaeen, Mahnaz; Silva Oliveira, Luis Felipe
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2024
• Institución: Corporación Universidad de la Costa
• Repositorio: REDICUC - Repositorio CUC
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.cuc.edu.co:11323/13930
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/11323/13930; https://repositorio.cuc.edu.co/
• Palabra clave: Aqueous continuum; Coronavirus; Low-income countries; Health risk; Viral infections; Water borne disease
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)