@article{98ddbe509c064ed38aecdc79a067fe60,
title = "SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring in rural and small metropolitan communities in Central Michigan",
abstract = "Central Michigan University (CMU) participated in a state-wide SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring program throughout the 2021–2022 academic year. Wastewater samples were collected weekly from ten on-campus sites and nine off-campus wastewater treatment plants servicing small metropolitan and rural communities. SARS-CoV-2 genome copies were quantified using droplet digital PCR. Case data reported by Central Michigan District Health Department and CMU were collected and compared with wastewater data. During the delta wave, wastewater detection and on-campus case reports increased rapidly with the start of the academic semester and peaked quickly, compared with a more gradual and prolonged increase in detection and case reports off-campus. During the omicron wave, transmission dynamics were similar on-campus and off-campus. Normalization of on-campus and off-campus wastewater data with pepper mild mottle virus gene expression suggested lower SARS-CoV-2 shedding per person in on-campus compared to off-campus samples during the delta wave, but no difference in virus shedding during the omicron wave. We discuss the possibility that a higher on-campus vaccination rate may have reduced virus shedding per person during the delta wave, but that this effect was lost with the omicron variant. This study suggests that wastewater monitoring is effective in rural and small metropolitan communities when used in conjunction with case reports to understand regional transmission dynamics and the impact of public health policies at a public university on virus shedding in the community.",
keywords = "Rural, SARS-CoV-2, Small metropolitan, Surveillance, Vaccination, Wastewater",
author = "Conway, {Michael J.} and Stephanie Kado and Kooienga, {Breanna K.} and Sarette, {Jacklyn S.} and Kirby, {Michael H.} and Marten, {Andrew D.} and Ward, {Avery S.} and Abel, {Jackson D.} and Steve King and Jacqueline Billette and Williams, {Maggie R.} and Uzarski, {Rebecca L.} and Alm, {Elizabeth W.}",
note = "Funding Information: The State of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy launched a SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring pilot project in November–December 2020. This wastewater monitoring program was extended into the 2021/2022 academic year and funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The program included partnerships between academic laboratories and regional public health departments that spanned large and small metropolitan areas and rural areas in both the lower and upper peninsulas. Central Michigan University (CMU) formed a partnership with the Central Michigan District Health Department (CMDHD). This partnership provided an opportunity to look at the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 at a public university and in the surrounding small metropolitan and rural communities. Together we identified ten on-campus sewer sites and nine off-campus wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to sample on a weekly basis. The population sizes serviced by these WWTPs ranged from as large as 35,397 to as small as 851. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater was compared with reported COVID cases. Funding Information: We thank MDHHS and MiNET for supporting wastewater collection, processing, and data analysis. We also thank the WWTP staff who provided samples every week during a pandemic. We thank CMU undergraduate assistants Justus Holben, Gabrielle Reau, Jessica Broach, Hamzah Khan, Jayde-Ann Taylor, Ashley Bergmooser, Kaitlyn Perry, and Alexis Bruce for their support. This is contribution number 187 of the Central Michigan University Institute for Great Lakes Research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier B.V.",
year = "2023",
month = oct,
day = "10",
doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165013",
language = "English",
volume = "894",
journal = "Science of the Total Environment",
issn = "0048-9697",
publisher = "Science of the Total Environment",
}
