ArticleViruses2022
SARS-CoV-2 Testing of Aircraft Wastewater Shows That Mandatory Tests and Vaccination Pass before Boarding Did Not Prevent Massive Importation of Omicron Variant into Europe.
Article in Viruses, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of nucleic acid concentration method on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 detection sensitivity in aircraft wastewater.Journal of medical microbiology · 2026Article
- Long-Term Sewage Survey of SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Correlation to Human Cases in a City with One Million Inhabitants.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Swift Realisation of Wastewater-Based SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance for Aircraft and Airports: Challenges from Sampling to Variant Detection.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Aircraft lavatory wastewater surveillance for movement of antimicrobial resistance genes: a proof-of-concept study.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Establishing a European wastewater pathogen monitoring network employing aviation samples: a proof of concept.Human genomics · 2025Review
- Genomic surveillance of Canadian airport wastewater samples allows early detection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 lineages.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Contraction of Respiratory Viral Infection During air Travel: An Under-Recognized Health Risk for Athletes.Sports medicine - open · 2024Article
- COVID-19 passenger screening to reduce travel risk and translocation of disease.Epidemiology and infection · 2024Article
- Stability of SARS-CoV-2 on Commercial Aircraft Interior Surfaces with Implications for Effective Control Measures.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- A global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network for early warning of future pandemics.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Review
- Evaluating the theoretical performance of aircraft wastewater monitoring as a tool for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- First Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5/22B in Monaco.Microorganisms · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMost new SARS-CoV-2 epidemics in France occurred following the importation from abroad of emerging viral variants. Currently, the risk of new variants being imported is controlled based on a negative screening test (PCR or antigenic) and proof of up-to-date vaccine status, such as the International Air Transport Association travel pass.
methodsThe wastewater from two planes arriving in Marseille (France) from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in December 2021 was tested by RT-PCR to detect SARS-CoV2 and screen for variants. These tests were carried out between landing and customs clearance and were then sequenced by MiSeq Illumina. Antigenic tests and sequencing by NovaSeq were carried out on respiratory samples collected from the 56 passengers on the second flight.
resultsSARS-CoV-2 RNA suspected of being from the Omicron BA.1 variant was detected in the aircraft's wastewater. SARS-CoV2 RNA was detected in 11 [20%) passengers and the Omicron BA.1 variant was identified.
conclusionOur work shows the efficiency of aircraft wastewater testing to detect SARS-CoV-2 cases among travellers and to identify the viral genotype. It also highlights the low efficacy of the current control strategy for flights entering France from outside Europe, which combines a requirement to produce a vaccine pass and proof of a negative test before boarding.
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