SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Wastewater Was Highly Correlated With the Number of COVID-19 Cases During the Fourth and Fifth Pandemic Wave in Kobe City, Japan.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated respiratory infections, has been detected in the feces of patients. Therefore, determining SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in sewage may help to predict the number of infected people within the area. In this study, we quantified SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy number using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR with primers and probes targeting the N gene, which allows the detection of both wild-type and variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage samples from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Kobe City, Japan, during the fourth and fifth pandemic waves of COVID-19 between February 2021 and October 2021.

Radiation measurements in the Chiba Metropolitan Area and radiological aspects of fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants accident.

Large amounts of radioactive substances were released into the environment from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants in eastern Japan as a consequence of the great earthquake (M 9.0) and tsunami of 11 March 2011. Radioactive substances discharged into the atmosphere first reached the Chiba Metropolitan Area on 15 March.