We used wastewater surveillance to identify 2 coronavirus disease outbreaks at a college in Maine, USA. Cumulative increases of >1 log10 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA in consecutive 24-hour composite samples preceded the outbreaks. For 76% of cases, RNA was identified in grab samples from residence halls <7 days before case discovery.
Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; COVID-19; Maine; SARS-CoV-2; United States; colleges; coronavirus disease; coronaviruses; nucleic acid detection; residential colleges; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; students; surveillance; viruses; wastewater; wastewater surveillance; zoonoses.