The detection of Japanese encephalitis virus in municipal wastewater during an acute disease outbreak

Abstract

Aim: To demonstrate the capability of wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) as a tool for detecting potential cases of Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) infection in the community. 

Methods and results: In this study, we explore the potential of WBS to detect cases of JEV infection by leveraging from an established SARSCoV-2 wastewater surveillance program. We describe the use of two reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTqPCR) assays targeting JEV to screen archived samples from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). JEV was detected in wastewater samples collected during a timeframe coinciding with a cluster of acute human encephalitis cases, alongside concurrent evidence of JEV detection in mosquito surveillance and the sentinel chicken programs within South Australia's Riverland and Murraylands regions. 

Conclusions: Current surveillance measures for JEV encounter multiple constraints, which may miss the early stages of JEV circulation or fail to capture the full extent of transmission. The detection of JEV in wastewater during a disease outbreak highlights the potential WBS has as a complementary layer to existing monitoring efforts forming part of the One Health approach required for optimal disease response and control. 

Impact Statement 

The Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) is one of the most serious viral encephalitic diseases globally. Improving existing JEV surveillance is critical due to limitations in disease-based reporting, underreporting of asymptomatic cases, and a need for complementary methods to augment existing vector and virus surveillance. We demonstrate the detection of JEV in wastewater during a disease outbreak, emphasizing the capability of wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) as a supplementary tool for other forms of surveillance.