Respiratory human adenovirus outbreak captured in wastewater surveillance

Abstract

Adenoviruses present challenges for traditional surveillance methods since there are more than 60 types that infect humans. Wastewater-based surveillance can supplement traditional surveillance methods for gastrointestinal-associated adenoviruses, but the ability to detect trends of respiratory-associated adenoviruses in wastewater remains unclear. We quantified human adenovirus type 4 (HAdV-4) in wastewater settled solids and compared wastewater measurements to clinical cases from an outbreak investigation beginning in late September 2023. The human adenovirus type 4 target was positively correlated with clinical cases (Spearman’s rho = 0.5470, p < 0.0001) and followed a similar trend during the outbreak. We also quantified human adenovirus types 3, 7, 14, 21, 40/41, and a pan-adenovirus assay that targets all types that infect humans. The respiratory adenoviruses comprised a small fraction of the adenoviruses in wastewater and types 40/41, which typically cause gastrointestinal disease, comprised the majority of the detected adenoviruses. The efficacy of adenovirus wastewater surveillance will depend on assay specificity and the public health action available for adenovirus types.