Wastewater surveillance for Covid-19: An African perspective

Abstract

The COVID -19 pandemic has once again highlighted the importance of access to sufficient quantities of safe water, and sanitation in public health. Well managed water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are critical for protection of human health during disease outbreaks [1]. Wastewater contains viruses, bacteria and parasites and inadequate treatment of, or exposure to, wastewater and fecal sludge plays a role in spreading disease [2, 3]. On the other hand, tracking of wastewater has historically played a key role in the development of early warning systems (EWS) for various enteric viruses, including poliovirus, norovirus and hepatitis [4 -6]. In 2011, Kano State of Nigeria was the first on the African continent to introduce environmental surveillance for poliovirus and many other regions in Africa have since included wastewater surveillance to supplement polio eradication efforts [7 -9]. To date, the screening of wastewater is recognized as an important tool for monitoring wild poliovirus and vaccine -derived polioviruses [7, 10] .