Sewage signals early warning of coronavirus outbreaks

Friday, 23 October 2020 00:01

A government-led programme is providing an early warning of coronavirus outbreaks by monitoring sewage across the country This can show outbreaks in areas where people are not showing symptoms The programme is now sharing data with the Joint Biosecurity Centre as a part of NHS Test and Trace A government-led project is successfully detecting traces of coronavirus in sewerage, providing an early warning for local outbreaks across the country and sharing data with NHS...Request free trial

A government-led programme is providing an early warning of coronavirus outbreaks by monitoring sewage across the country
This can show outbreaks in areas where people are not showing symptoms
The programme is now sharing data with the Joint Biosecurity Centre as a part of NHS Test and Trace

A government-led project is successfully detecting traces of coronavirus in sewerage, providing an early warning for local outbreaks across the country and sharing data with NHS Test and Trace.

The programme, which was first announced in June, has now proven that fragments of genetic material from the virus can be detected in wastewater. This can then indicate where a local community or an institution is experiencing a spike in cases.

The results can provide local health professionals with a clearer picture of infection rates by identifying where there are high numbers, particularly for asymptomatic carriers and before people start showing symptoms. This will allow local authorities to take early action to slow the spread of the virus.

The data will be shared with NHS Test and Trace and inform where new outbreaks may be happening. It means that public health professionals can speak directly to institutions where there may be spikes in infection. Those institutions can in turn can encourage people to get tested or take extra precautions.

The project has already worked successfully in an area in the South West of England, where sewage sampling data showed a spike in coronavirus material despite relatively low numbers of people seeking tests.

This was passed on to NHS Test and Trace and the local council, who were able to alert local health professionals to the increased risk and contact people in the area to warn of the increase in cases.

Testing has now been rolled out across more than 90 wastewater treatment sites in the UK, covering approximately 22 per cent of the population in England, with plans to expand in the future.

Defra, the Environment Agency and Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) are collaborating on the English programme and chairing a UK-wide group to ensure coordination between Scottish Government, Welsh Government and academic projects. The testing is being led by the Environment Agency’s Starcross laboratory in Exeter.

The JBC is also conducting pilots to test how this approach can generate targeted scientific intelligence to help health authorities make future decisions, including assessing how precisely wastewater can be used to identify coronavirus sources.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

“This is a significant step forward in giving us a clearer idea of infection rates both nationally and locally, particularly in areas where there may be large numbers of people who aren’t showing any symptoms and therefore aren’t seeking tests.

“NHS Test and Trace is able to use the science to ensure local health leads are alerted and can take action.”

“We are continuing to look at how this programme can be refined as one of the many measures we’re using to slow the spread of the virus and protect local communities.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“This initiative is just one example of how we are working across government and with local partners to find innovative, new ways to track the outbreak, slow the spread of the virus and save lives.

“Monitoring and sampling wastewater offers another tool to help us identify outbreaks early on – helping NHS Test and Trace and local authorities target hotspots quickly and effectively.

“As we see an increase in cases across the country, it remains vitally important that everyone continues to follow Hands, Face and Space, gets a test and self-isolates if they display any Covid-19 symptoms and follows the advice of NHS Test and Trace.”

Separate work carried out by the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) also identified coronavirus material in London sewage in February, before any COVID-19 cases were recorded in this area, providing further evidence of the effectiveness of wastewater monitoring to detect infection rates. High levels of virus material were detected in March and April followed by a considerable decrease in May and June, reflecting the impact of national lockdown measures on virus transmission.

The World Health Organization is clear that the likelihood of coronavirus being transmitted via sewerage systems is extremely low or negligible.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

“Sewage is a rich source of information about community health. I recently visited Starcross laboratory and saw the testing, monitoring and analysis carried out by the Environment Agency’s wastewater experts.

“I was inspired by their collaborative approach with academics, industry, government to help provide an early warning system for local coronavirus outbreaks.”

Dr Davey Jones, Professor of Soil & Environmental Science at Bangor University, said:

“We have been monitoring viruses like Norovirus and Hepatitis in human sewage for the last decade, as part of a programme to evaluate levels of these viruses in the community. We added COVID-19 to the surveillance list in March this year.

“We showed that viral levels in wastewater mapped really well onto the success of lockdown measures in the first COVID-19 wave and to the emergence of the second wave. We are now using it to track the emergence and control of COVID-19 cases and working on new pilots to map the virus at both the local and the regional scale.”

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, said:

“This research shows that our wastewater system can be used to identify coronavirus hotspots early, which could significantly help our ability to contain local outbreaks.

“The project is an excellent example of how UKRI can work collaboratively to harness the strength of the UK research and innovation system to address rapidly emerging challenges.”

- ENDS -

Notes to editors

For further queries contact newsdesk@defra.gov.uk or 0330 041 6560
Sampling is currently being done at sites across the UK, with:

44 in England
24 in Wales
28 in Scotland

A full list of the organisations partnering with government on the project:

Defra
Environment Agency
Joint Biosecurity Centre, as a part of NHS Test & Trace
UK Research & Innovation
Cardiff University
Bangor University
University of Edinburgh
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Imperial College London
Middlesex University
Newcastle University
University of Bath
Natural Environment Research Council
Water UK and UK water companies including Thames Water, Scottish Water, United Utilities and others.
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Scottish Government
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)
Welsh Government
Natural Resources Wales

A recently published paper from Bangor University (Professor Davey L Jones) on the shedding of Covid-19 in faeces and urine and its potential role in person-to-person transmission suggests the likelihood of infection due to contact with sewage-contaminated water is extremely low or negligible.

This is in line with other existing evidence, which is under continual review by UK Government expert advisory groups. It is also in line with risk assessments made by the World Health Organisation and the UK Government.
Evidence is still emerging about Covid-19 and the government is working with leading scientists to examine this issue further as additional studies are carried out on the link between evidence from sampling wastewater and the number of Covid-19 cases.

NIBSC research

Earlier work carried out by NIBSC identified an association between coronavirus genetic material in sewage and rates of coronavirus. This genetic material was found to closely match that of the strains infecting individuals in England.
The Institute routinely tests sewage for other human viruses on behalf of the WHO and were able to adapt their technique to detect coronavirus. NIBSC scientists have recently published a paperon how they retrospectively analysed samples obtained from a sewage treatment facility serving 4 million Londoners, between January and June.

UKCEH project

National Wastewater Epidemiology Surveillance Programme (N-WESP), led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Scientists from top UK research institutes are investigating whether analysis of wastewater can be used to estimate the number of COVID-19 cases in a population as well as assessing the infection risk of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage.
The team is developing the technical sampling, analytical and modelling methods to assist the three national wastewater surveillance programmes.
This £1m research programme, which began in July, is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UKRI.

Scottish government wastewater sampling project

Scottish Water is sampling wastewater treatment plants in Scotland, and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency is testing viral genetic material in these samples. The Scottish partners are coordinating testing methods and data analysis with the Defra/EA/JBC programme, and with academic research projects.