Publication Database

Timely monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in wastewater shows the emergence of JN.1 (BA.2.86.1.1, Clade 23I) in Berlin, Germany (2024)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Bartel, Alexander (WE 16)

Grau, José Horacio

Bitzegeio, Julia

Werber, Dirk

Linzner, Nico

Schumacher, Vera

Garske, Sonja

Liere, Karsten

Hackenbeck, Thomas

Rupp, Sofia Isabell

Sagebiel, Daniel

Böckelmann, Uta

Meixner, Martin

Quelle

Viruses

Bandzählung: 16

Heftzählung: 1

Seiten: 102

ISSN: 1999-4915

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38257802/

DOI: 10.3390/v16010102

Pubmed: 38257802

Kontakt

Institut für Veterinär-Epidemiologie und Biometrie

Königsweg 67
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 56034
epi@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

The importance of COVID-19 surveillance from wastewater continues to grow since case-based surveillance in the general population has been scaled back world-wide. In Berlin, Germany, quantitative and genomic wastewater monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 is performed in three wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) covering 84% of the population since December 2021. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineage JN.1 (B.2.86.1.1), was first identified from wastewater on 22 October 2023 and rapidly became the dominant sublineage. This change was accompanied by a parallel and still ongoing increase in the notification-based 7-day-hospitalization incidence of COVID-19 and COVID-19 ICU utilization, indicating increasing COVID-19 activity in the (hospital-prone) population and a higher strain on the healthcare system. In retrospect, unique mutations of JN.1 could be identified in wastewater as early as September 2023 but were of unknown relevance at the time. The timely detection of new sublineages in wastewater therefore depends on the availability of new sequences from GISAID and updates to Pango lineage definitions and Nextclade. We show that genomic wastewater surveillance provides timely public health evidence on a regional level, complementing the existing indicators.