key: cord-0779317-dwf4aaqg authors: Olusola-Makinde, Olubukola Olayemi; Reuben, Rine Christopher title: Ticking bomb: Prolonged faecal shedding of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and environmental implications() date: 2020-09-08 journal: Environ Pollut DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115485 sha: e29eeb348ff902897cbf88b4f3e01acb7fdb9b70 doc_id: 779317 cord_uid: dwf4aaqg The current global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been a tremendous public health challenge globally. While the respiratory transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been established, evolving reports on the impact of the gastrointestinal system and the prolonged faecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 show the likelihood of faecally mediated transmission. The increasing evidential presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and faecal material poses a significant public health threat which may potentiate global vulnerability to high risk of human exposure through environmental drivers especially in less developed countries. While extensively exploring the likelihood of faecally mediated SARS-CoV-2 transmission, infection control and prevention measures aimed at mitigating this pandemic should holistically include environmental drivers. The current global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the novel 78 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 79 has been a tremendous public health challenge globally, affecting over 7 million people in more agency-says-negative-result-no-longer-required-to-discharge-patients.html Aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 as compared with 337 Concentration and detection of 339 SARS coronavirus in sewage from Xiao Tang Shan Hospital and the 309th Hospital of the 340 Chinese People's Liberation Army Virological assessment of 345 hospitalized cases of coronavirus disease 2019 Emergency Committee Regarding the Outbreak of 349 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) (WWW Document World Health Organization (WHO). 2020b. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Report-354 147 Update 95 -SARS: chronology of a serial killer Prolonged 363 presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in faecal samples Evidence for gastrointestinal 366 infection of SARS-CoV-2 Prolonged viral shedding in feces of pediatric patients with coronavirus disease 2019 Persistent shedding of viable SARS-CoV in urine and stool of SARS patients during the convalescent phase Characteristics of 376 pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection and potential evidence for persistent fecal viral shedding Enteric involvement of coronaviruses: is faecal-oral 379 transmission of SARS-CoV-2 possible? Epidemiologic 382 features and clinical course of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore Molecular and serological investigation of 2019-nCoV 386 infected patients: implication of multiple shedding routes