Presence of Coronavirus, Enterovirus and Adenovirus in Municipal Wastewater as Indicators of the Prevalence of Associated Viral Infections in the Community

Background and purpose: Adenoviruses and enteroviruses as intestinal viruses are detected in wastewater. Fecal shedding of 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been reported in some studies. Therefore, determining the presence of these viruses in wastewater is important to maintain public health and helps in predicting and preventing viral infections in a community. Materials and methods: In this analytical study, 24 raw wastewater samples were taken from two municipal wastewater treatment plants and viral nucleic acids were extracted. Finally, the presence of adenovirus was detected by real-time PCR, and SARS-CoV-2 and enterovirus were detected using RT Real-time PCR. Results: Nine (37.5%) samples were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2. Also, 19 (79%) and 6 (6%) samples showed the presence of adenovirus and enterovirus, respectively. Conclusion: Detection of SARS-CoV-2, enterovirus, and adenovirus in wastewater samples indicated the prevalence of viral infections in the community served by two wastewater treatment plants studied. The presence of viruses in wastewater shows that monitoring of wastewater could be used as an important tool for the survey of viral infections in the community.