Assistant Professor Masaaki Kitajima of Hokkaido University and an international collaborative research group at Tulane University in the United States have succeeded in detecting a new type of coronavirus RNA in sewage samples in Louisiana, USA.The results of this research were published as the first case in which a new type of coronavirus RNA was detected in sewage samples in the North American continent including the United States.
Since the new coronavirus, which is the etiology of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is excreted in the feces of more than half of the infected people, the new coronavirus in the sewage is treated by investigating the new coronavirus. It is possible to grasp the epidemic situation of COVID-19 in the area.The research group of Assistant Professor Kitajima and others advocated the importance of such sewage epidemiological surveys for the first time in the world. I am working on research.
This time, sewage samples (2 samples of inflow water, 2020 samples of secondary treated water, 1 samples of discharged water after chlorination) were collected from January to April 4 at two sewage treatment plants in the southern part of Louisiana, USA. , Conducted a survey on the existence of the new corona virus.Two virus enrichment methods and two real-time PCR methods were used for detection.As a result, new coronavirus RNA was detected in the inflow water after the number of infected people increased in the survey area.
The research results were published as peer-reviewed research papers in the online version of "Science of the Total Environment".Regarding the detection of new coronavirus RNA from sewage samples, a research group of Assistant Professor Kitajima and Professor Eiji Haramoto of the University of Yamanashi has published the first case in Japan in advance.Currently, a global research project on sewage epidemiology of COVID-19, which was launched by a research group in the United States and is attended by Japanese researchers such as Assistant Professor Kitajima, is underway.It is expected that the sewage epidemiological survey will progress through international cooperation in the future.
Paper information:[Science of the Total Environment] First detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in North America: A study in Louisiana, USA
