CIIMS scientist detects multiple viruses in wastewater samples in Nagpur

By Kartik Lokhande

In what is being considered as first such study, a prominent scientist with Central India Institute of Medical Sciences (CIIMS) in association with 16 institutes conducted a research during second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and detected multiple viruses in wastewater samples collected from various parts of Nagpur. The study has been published in May 2023 issue of The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia.

The work was done under the leadership of Dr Rajpal Singh Kashyap, Senior Scientist and Director (Research), CIIIMS. He was the Lead Investigator from India, and Dr Tanya Monaghan was the Lead Investigator from the United Kingdom. The study got funding from UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Dr Rajpal Singh Kashyap told ‘The Hitavada’ that the study resulted in detection of zoonotic viruses, including those of Chikungunya, Jingmen Tick, and Rabies. “These have not been reported previously in wastewater. Besides, SARS CoV-2 was detectable in 83 locations (59 per cent of sites), with stark abundance variations observed between sampling sites,” he said. Sharing the findings of the research, Dr Kashyap said that Hepatitis C Virus was the “most frequently detected infectious virus”, identified in 113 locations and co-occurring 77 times with SARS CoV-2. “Both were more abundantly detected in rural areas than urban zones,” he added. The researchers also observed concurrent identification of segmented virus genomic fragments of Influenza A virus, Norovirus, and Rotavirus. As per the study published in The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia, “Geographical differences were also observed for Astrovirus, Saffold virus, Husavirus, and Aichi virus that were more prevalent in urban samples, while the zoonotic viruses Chikungunya and Rabies were more abundant in rural environments.”

According to Dr Kashyap, the main rationale behind the study was to look into the viruses which might be major threats ‘at present and in future’ using wastewater epidemiology, and tackle the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. “Wastewater epidemiology is a great model to collect samples and identify early signs of which infections are looming in which areas. This may also be used to assess the load of drug consumption by the population in the survey area,” he observed. Given its massive potential for application, a model and mechanism should be put in place to conduct wastewater epidemiological surveillance on a regular basis. “Disease prevalence profile of a city or area should be published regularly. The study supports the use of wastewater RNA sequencing as a valuable qualitative tool for public health surveillance and can be implemented for the identification of endemic and problematic viruses,” he explained.

For the study, 140 untreated composite wastewater samples were collected from urban and rural areas of Nagpur from February 3 to April 3 in the year 2021. The other co-investigators for the project included Dr Amit Nayak, Dr Aliabbas Husain, Dr Sudipti Arora, Dr Tarun Bhatnagar, Dr V Umashanker, and Dr Saravana Babu, Rupam Nashine, Hemanshi Dudani, Aditi Nag, Ekta Meena, Vikky Sinha, Sandeep Shrivastava, and others. The project was supported by Indian Council of Medical Research and by Nagpur Muicipal Corporation.

On the basis of all the available evidence, the researchers observed that RNA sequencing, as applied to wastewater-based epidemiology, might also assist in the design and implementation of national vaccination programmes against emergent and pre-existent infectious diseases. The potential is immense. RNA sequencing can detect faecal-oral viruses that ‘disproportionally affect’ children, mentions the study. Comprehensive application of the ‘cost-effective and adaptable epidemiological alert tool’ can be leveraged for rapid assessment of emerging threats and also help in preparedness for pandemic situations, and to monitor progress in attaining global health and Sustainable Development Goals formulated by the United Nations.

The other international institutes involved in the project included APC Microbiome Ireland, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, National Institute for Health Research, Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Wolfson Centre for Global Virus Research, Queens Medical Centre, School of Life Sciences (UK), UK Centre for Hydrology, Food Water Waste Research Group (UK), University of Ghana, Nottingham Digestive Centre (UK).