SACCESS Network
The South African Collaborative COVID-19 Environmental Surveillance System (SACCESS) Network, which is a partnership of public and private sector organizations, came together in April 2020 to begin testing and analyzing wastewater, non-sewered sanitation, and environmental samples for SARS-CoV-2.
Sample Collection: The weekly grab and passive samples are collected from wastewater treatment plants, non-sewered sanitation, rivers, and pooled surface water.
Sample Analysis: The samples from each site are tested for SARS-CoV-2 using a variety of methods shown in the Laboratory Methods table below. Crassphage is sometimes used to try to normalize the data.
Data Use: The data may be used to guide the implementation of public health measures to curb transmission and contain the economic and social impact of SARS-CoV-2.
Laboratory Methods
Viral concentration
Centricon® Plus-70 centrifugal
Polyethylene Glycol
Skim milk flocculation
(Ultra) centrifugation
Tangential Flow Filtration
Nucleic acid extraction
QIAamp® viral RNA mini kit
Omega Bio-tek ENZA total
RNA Kit II
MagMAX Viral and Pathogen
Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit
QIAamp® Ultrasens® Virus Kit
ZymoBIOMICS kit
RNeasy PowerSoil
RT-PCR assays
Allplex™ 2019-nCoV Assay
2019-nCoV CDC EUA Kit
Thermofisher (TaqPath kit)
Data Use: The data may be used to guide the implementation of public health measures to curb transmission and contain the economic and social impact of SARS-CoV-2.
Further reading:
- Development of a Framework for Water Quality-Based COVID-19 Epidemiology Surveillance for Non-Sewered Communities
- NICD Wastewater Surveillance Information and Dashboard
- Water Research Commision COVID-19 Surveillance Programme
- The SACCESS network for COVID-19 wastewater surveillance: a national collaboration for public health responsiveness
Program Partners:
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) – sample testing and data analysis
- National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) – sample analysis, data analysis and epidemiology studies
- University of the Witwatersrand – sample testing
- University of Pretoria – sample testing
- University of Zululand – sample testing
- University of Stellenbosch – sample testing
- SAMRC (Pretoria and Cape Town) – sample testing
- Lumegen Laboratories – sample testing
- Waterlab Pty (Ltd) – sample collection and testing
- Water Research Commission
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Cape Town Department of Health
- Wastewater treatment plants: City of Tshwane, ERWAT, City of Johannesburg
Contact:
Leanne Zdyb Coetzee Pr.Sci.Nat
Specialist Consultant, Advisory, Consulting and Training Services
Waterlab Pty (Ltd)
leanne@waterlab.co.za