{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T15:13:06Z","timestamp":1779289986538,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]],"date-time":"2026-05-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779062400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Henan Province Medical Science and Technology Public Relations Plan Joint construction Project","award":["LHGJ20240602"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LHGJ20240602"]}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Research Project of Henan Center for Disease Control and Prevention","award":["HNCDCYC202504"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HNCDCYC202504"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Wastewater-based epidemiology has emerged as a valuable complementary tool for population-level monitoring. This study evaluated the early warning value of wastewater surveillance for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 and its correlation with COVID-19 infection trends. From May 2024 to December 2025, 526 wastewater samples were collected from five treatment plants. Spearman correlation and a quasi-Poisson generalized additive model (adjusting for wastewater temperature) were used to assess relationships between SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration, the number of reported cases, and lag associations. Wastewater viral loads (copies\/mL) significantly correlated with reported cases. Wastewater temperature was positively correlated with both viral concentrations and case numbers. A significant lagged association was observed for the N gene, with relative risk peaking at a 10-day lag. Although the ORF1ab gene was not significant for most lag periods, its temporal trend was consistent with that of the N gene. Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, particularly targeting the N gene, can effectively predict COVID-19 infection dynamics with a 10-day lead time, thereby supporting wastewater surveillance as an early warning tool for public health monitoring.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18050569","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T14:12:54Z","timestamp":1779286374000},"page":"569","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Wastewater-Based Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 for Early Warning of COVID-19 Infection Dynamics"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Qiuyan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xinye","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyan","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yongxing","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Office of Preventive Medicine Association, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaohan","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Information Center, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0547-290X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Siyu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaona","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuan","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-5802-3392","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jie","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Sanitation, Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou 450016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1201","DOI":"10.1080\/14787210.2020.1797487","article-title":"Resolution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)","volume":"18","author":"Habas","year":"2020","journal-title":"Expert Rev. 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