Early warning system? Researchers find corona viruses in wastewater

The spread of the corona virus scares people. The infection chains are hardly traceable anymore. Dutch scientists have now made an interesting discovery in our wastewater.

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The corona virus keeps the world in suspense. As fast as it spreads, it is almost impossible to recapitulate chains of infection. Dutch scientists now seem to have made a breakthrough. You have that Sars-CoV-2 virus in the sewage can prove to a community.

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Corona early warning system? Researchers find viruses in wastewater

The Dutch have that Sars-CoV-2 virus in the sewage found – interestingly, before the first corona infections became known there. The researchers are now hoping to develop a kind of early warning system from this, as reported by the Bloomberg and welt.de news agencies.

The finding also shows that the coronavirus is therefore often excreted in the stool of an infected person. On the other hand, it is unlikely that wastewater will become an important transmission route for the disease, says microbiologist Gertjan Medema and his colleagues from the KWR water research institute in Nieuwegein.

BUT: With the rapid spread of the corona virus, the amount of the pathogen in the sewage system also increases.

The details of the discovery of the coronavirus

On March 5, the researchers discovered genetic material of the coronavirus in a sewage treatment plant in Amersfoort – even before the first cases had been reported in the city about 50 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam.

“It is important to collect information about the occurrence and whereabouts of this new virus in wastewater to understand whether there is no risk to wastewater workers, but also to determine whether wastewater monitoring is used to monitor the circulation of Sars-CoV 2 could be used in our communities, “explains Medema, the institute’s chief microbiologist. “This could complement current clinical surveillance, which is limited to the Covid 19 patients with the most severe symptoms.”

Is wastewater monitoring an important tool?

The detection of viruses in wastewater is not new. However, what is new is that of the corona virus. As a well-established method, wastewater monitoring already serves to detect the poliovirus and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the use of illegal and prescription medication.

This form of analysis could also serve as an early warning of Sars-CoV-2 in cities, the Dutch scientists believe. “Evidence of the virus in the wastewater, even if the prevalence of Covid-19 is low, suggests that wastewater monitoring could be a critical tool in monitoring the virus’s circulation in the population.”

Would you like to get a general overview of the corona virus? Then watch our video:

You can find more information on our detailed Coronavirus topic page.

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