{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,20]],"date-time":"2026-02-20T06:03:58Z","timestamp":1771567438089,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771372800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001322","name":"South African Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["SAMRC\/UFH\/P790"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SAMRC\/UFH\/P790"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001322","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Research Foundation of South Africa","award":["RCHDI241119283812"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RCHDI241119283812"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Several researchers have documented the occurrence of the unfamiliar severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ribonucleic acid (also known as SARS-CoV-2 RNA) in various raw wastewater (WW) samples analyzed globally. The efficiency of strategic WW-based epidemiology (WBE) approach as a timely cautioning tool for human coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID) and other similar outbreaks is highly promising. This strategy offers a cost-effective, population-wide surveillance tool that can detect rising case trends, from days to weeks before clinical reports, thus enabling proactive public health interventions. This study aimed to detect the occurrence of the viral genome in WW over four seasons, which contributes to the database for multi-plant surveillance research in South Africa. About 480 WW influent samples were amassed from ten sampling points situated in nine wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) in Amathole District Municipality (ADM) located in the Province of Eastern Cape (EC), South Africa (SA). The study was carried out for a period of one year. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (i.e., RT-PCR) was operated to identify the viral genomes in the respective total RNA samples. Of the 480 extracted RNA samples, 210 (44%) were positive with viral genome copies (gc) that ranged from 700 to 40,000 GC\/mL. Our results were contrasted with existing COVID-19-positive cases throughout the COVID omicron wave in the ECP. Variations in gc were observed across different seasons, with the highest GC observed in winter. In contrast, there were significant inconsistencies in the existing data of COVID-19 clinical cases, thus indicating no connection between both data. However, with more similar studies, advanced innovative WBE strategies could possibly act as prompt warning tools to signal public health officials about potential future outbreaks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14020495","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T15:28:18Z","timestamp":1771428498000},"page":"495","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Seasonal Variations in the Occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Recovered from Wastewater Treatment Facilities (WWTFs) Within South Africa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8192-0428","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kingsley Ehi","family":"Ebomah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7272-437X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luyanda","family":"Msolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0056-0687","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Velisa Vuyolwethu","family":"Qongwe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3862-3134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Okuhle","family":"Mayoyo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Piwe Athi","family":"Ntlati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Balisa","family":"Ngqwala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nolonwabo","family":"Nontongana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Renee","family":"Street","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town 7505, South Africa"},{"name":"Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6328-0789","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rabia","family":"Johnson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research Innovation Platform (BRIP), South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa"},{"name":"Cardio-Metabolic Research in Africa, Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9770-085X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anthony Ifeanyi","family":"Okoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"},{"name":"DSTI\/NRF SARChI in Water Quality and Environmental Genomics, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2022, March 09). 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