SARS-CoV-2 as Enteric Virus in Wastewater: Which Risk on the Environment and Human Behavior?

Abstract

Microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoa are the cause of many waterborne human infections. These microbes are either naturally present in aquatic environments or transferred within them by fecal sources. They remain in these environments for varying lengths of time before contaminating a new host. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, some studies have reported the presence of viral nucleic acids in stool samples from COVID-19 patients, suggesting the possibility of fecal-oral transmission. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA was thereby detected in the wastewater of symptomatic and asymptomatic people with a risk to human and environmental health. In this work, we try to discuss the different potential sources of this contamination, the forms of persistence in the environment, the techniques of partial elimination, and the possibility of creating new reservoirs.