Scientists In US & Europe Track Spread Of Coronavirus Through Faecal Matter

Scientists across the United States are studying the connection between faecal matter and coronavirus. Human excrement has been valuable for researchers studying the virus, the genetic material of which can be detected in stool and wastewater, NDTV reported quoting Washington Post.

Across the US, scientists have been analyzing sewage to determine how intense outbreaks might be or to predict where the next one might be developing. Sewage tests cannot identify individual cases, but they can help some communities, such as universities, respond to outbreaks in particular areas or buildings, the report said.

Here are some of the key findings in other countries.

Canada

Every day at 5 am, scientists in Ottawa receive samples of the previous day’s sewage to test for traces of the coronavirus in wastewater pooled from “over a million souls,” Alex MacKenzie, a senior scientist at the CHEO research institute was quoted as saying.

In early October, MacKenzie’s team reported that concentrations of the coronavirus in the area’s wastewater had doubled in the past month and increased tenfold since June.

The Netherlands

In early February, over a month before the global pandemic was declared, scientists from the Dutch KWR Water Research Institute in Nieuwegein began periodically testing sewage samples from seven cities and one airport, according to a paper they published in July. On March 5, Dutch scientists detected the coronavirus in wastewater at a treatment plant in Amersfoort. Weeks later, the first case of the virus was confirmed.

Hong Kong

When 2003 SARS broke out in Hong Kong, the virus infected hundreds of people in a 33-story apartment building. It was found that SARS, a coronavirus related to the one causing COVID-19, probably had aerosolized and spread through the plumbing system. Scientists narrowed in on patient zero, who had diarrhea in a bathroom in the building, where the plumbing was faulty, the report said.

Italy

In northern Italy, scientists from the Italian National Institutes of Health analysed sewage samples collected from 40 wastewater treatment centres between October 2019 and February 2020.

The coronavirus, they found, was first detected in samples from Milan and Turin on Dec. 18, nearly two weeks before China reported that a mysterious virus was circulating in the city of Wuhan.

Finland

On April 22, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare announced that it would monitor the virus in sewage systems across the country.

A number of countries in Europe, including Germany and France, have also been monitoring sewage systems, the report added.