The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater has been reported as a result of fecal shedding of infected individuals. In this study, the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was explored in primary-treated wastewater from two municipal wastewater treatment plants in Quintana Roo, Mexico, along with groundwater from sinkholes, a household well, and submarine groundwater discharges. Physicochemical variables were obtained in situ, and coliphage densities were determined. Three virus concentration methods based on adsorption-elution and sequential filtration were used followed by RNA isolation. Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 was done by RT-qPCR using the CDC 2020 assay, 2019-nCoV_N1 and 2019-nCoV_N2. The Pepper mild mottle virus, one of the most abundant RNA viruses in wastewater was quantified by RT-qPCR and compared to SARS-CoV-2 concentrations. The use of three combined virus concentration methods together with two qPCR assays allowed the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 58% of the wastewater samples analyzed, whereas none of the groundwater samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater were from 1.8 × 10³ to 7.5 × 10³ genome copies per liter (GC l⁻¹), using the N1 RT-qPCR assay, and from 2.4 × 10² to 5.9 × 10³ GC l⁻¹ using the N2 RT-qPCR assay. Based on PMMoV prevalence detected in all wastewater and groundwater samples tested, the three viral concentration methods used could be successfully applied for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in further studies. This study represents the first detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in southeast Mexico and provides a baseline for developing a wastewater-based epidemiology approach in the area.

据报道，废水中存在严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA，这是由于感染者的粪便脱落所致。在这项研究中，在墨西哥金塔纳罗奥州的两个市政污水处理厂的初级处理废水中，以及来自污水坑、家庭井和海底地下水排放的地下水中探索了 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 的出现。原位获得物理化学变量，并确定大肠杆菌噬菌体密度。使用基于吸附-洗脱和顺序过滤的三种病毒浓缩方法，然后进行 RNA 分离。使用 CDC 2020 测定法、2019-nCoV_N1 和 2019-nCoV_N2 通过 RT-qPCR 对 SARS-CoV-2 进行定量。Pepper 轻度斑驳病毒，废水中最丰富的 RNA 病毒之一通过 RT-qPCR 进行了定量，并与 SARS-CoV-2 的浓度进行了比较。使用三种组合的病毒浓度方法和两种 qPCR 测定法，可以在 58% 的分析废水样本中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA，而地下水样本中没有一个对 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 呈阳性。废水中 SARS-CoV-2 的浓度为每升1.8 × 10 ³至 7.5 × 10 ^{3基因组拷贝 (GC l -1} )，使用 N1 RT-qPCR 分析，从 2.4 × 10 ²到 5.9 × 10 ³气相色谱 l ^-1使用 N2 RT-qPCR 测定。基于在所有测试的废水和地下水样本中检测到的 PMMoV 流行率，所使用的三种病毒浓缩方法可以成功地应用于 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 检测，以进行进一步的研究。这项研究代表了在墨西哥东南部废水中首次检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA，并为在该地区开发基于废水的流行病学方法提供了基线。