“Additionally, the virus ends up in the wastewater from spit and skin during brushing teeth and washing,” she said.īohrerova pointed out that most of the virus that ends up in wastewater is degraded, so only the “genetic signal” (RNA) of the virus is monitored. Virus enters wastewater in different waysĪccording to Zuzana Bohrerova, PhD, a research specialist in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering at Ohio State University and associate director of the Ohio Water Resources Center, not all coronavirus enters wastewater through urine and feces. “Because increases in wastewater generally occur before corresponding increases in clinical cases, wastewater surveillance serves as an early warning system for the emergence of COVID-19 in a community,” said Amy Kirby, PhD, who leads the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance program, during a media telebriefing. They also announced they’re increasing their efforts to collect wastewater samples from communities nationwide to identify traces of the pandemic virus. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created an interactive map to show where COVID-19 is being detected in wastewater in the United States. One way to counteract this is by looking at wastewater for an area.ĬOVID-19 can be identified in wastewater up to 2 weeks before they’re being detected in clinical samples from the same area, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While COVID-19 cases are decreasing nationwide, health officials are still carefully monitoring cases in case they see unexpected spikes or a new variant makes an appearance.īut relying solely on PCR or rapid COVID-19 test results can be imperfect if people don’t get tested or if they’re unable to report results of at-home tests. Experts say this can help detect hidden spikes in cases.The CDC has released a new map showing trends in wastewater nationwide.
COVID-19 can be identified in wastewater up to 2 weeks before they’re being detected in clinical samples from the same area, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Share on Pinterest Cheney Orr/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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