Cheng Zhou-Hua, Du Meng, Qian Chen, Zhang Shu-Xia, Wang Hao-Da, Li Wen-Wei, Liu Dong-Feng, Yu Han-Qing
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Environmental Technology, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Natl Sci Rev. 2025 Jul 15;12(8):nwaf275. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwaf275. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Wastewater surveillance is a critical tool in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet traditional centralized methods are unsustainable due to their high costs and complex implementation requirements. Here, we introduce Wastewater Analysis and Tracking for Epidemiological Recognition: Necessary Early Warning System (WATER NEWS)-a field clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-diagnostic approach designed for robust and cost-effective pathogen detection in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). WATER NEWS combined a one-pot assay, an optimized reporter probe, on-site nucleic acid extraction, an improved freeze-drying process and a user-friendly, low-cost, battery-operated device, thereby overcoming the limitations of field-deployable wastewater surveillance. In evaluations across 25 WWTPs in 10 Chinese cities, WATER NEWS achieved sensitivities exceeding 90% and specificities of 100% in SARS-CoV-2 detection from the influent and effluent samples of WWTPs. Notably, the system consistently detected SARS-CoV-2 presence within 20 days at a local WWTP. Economic analysis reveals that our approach achieved a 6.5-fold cost reduction compared with clinical testing and costs nearly half that of traditional wastewater surveillance methods, making it a viable and sustainable option for wastewater surveillance.
废水监测是应对新冠疫情的一项关键工具，但传统的集中式方法因其成本高昂且实施要求复杂而难以为继。在此，我们推出用于流行病学识别的废水分析与追踪：必要预警系统（WATER NEWS）——一种基于成簇规律间隔短回文重复序列的诊断方法，旨在对污水处理厂中的病原体进行可靠且经济高效的检测。WATER NEWS结合了一锅法检测、优化的报告探针、现场核酸提取、改进的冻干工艺以及用户友好、低成本的电池供电设备，从而克服了可现场部署的废水监测的局限性。在对中国10个城市的25家污水处理厂进行的评估中，WATER NEWS在检测污水处理厂进水和出水样本中的新冠病毒时，灵敏度超过90%，特异性达到100%。值得注意的是，该系统在当地一家污水处理厂中持续20天内都能检测到新冠病毒的存在。经济分析表明，我们的方法与临床检测相比成本降低了6.5倍，且成本几乎是传统废水监测方法的一半，使其成为废水监测的一个可行且可持续的选择。
