Seasonal and spatial variability of PMMoV in tropical urban wastewater-based surveillance: implications for accurate SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in Kampala, Uganda
Andrew Nsawotebba, Valeria Nakintu, Innocent Morunyanga, Jonathan Kabazzi, Jordan Magala, Samuel Jefferson Mutyaba, Noah C. Hull, Victor Vusi Mabasa, Denis Smith Akejo, Fatim Cham, Susan Nabadda · 2026
Read Seasonal and spatial variability of PMMoV in tropical urban wastewater-based surveillance: implications for accurate SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in Kampala, Uganda by Andrew Nsawotebba, Valeria Nakintu, Innocent Morunyanga, Jonathan Kabazzi, Jordan Magala, Samuel Jefferson Mutyaba, Noah C. Hull, Victor Vusi Mabasa, Denis Smith Akejo, Fatim Cham, Susan Nabadda (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13317247.txt.
Description
Andrew Nsawotebba and co-authors test a fecal marker for wastewater surveillance in Kampala in a 2026 study. Sewage monitoring tracks community virus spread, including SARS-CoV-2. Counts are usually normalized by a pepper virus that marks fecal load. Tropical rain and stormwater may distort that marker's signal.
Weekly swab samples came from four treatment sites over fourteen months. The marker was detected in nearly all samples taken. Levels varied significantly across sites in the data. Rainfall links were quantified with correlation and mixed models. Variance was split into rainfall-driven and structural parts. Seasonal and spatial swings proved substantial in the tropics. The authors question blind reliance on the marker there. Local calibration may be needed for accurate virus estimates. Other tropical cities face the same normalization risk. The study offers a template for checking marker fitness.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Andrew Nsawotebba, Valeria Nakintu, Innocent Morunyanga, Jonathan Kabazzi, Jordan Magala, Samuel Jefferson Mutyaba, Noah C. Hull, Victor Vusi Mabasa, Denis Smith Akejo, Fatim Cham, Susan Nabadda |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 42 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |