Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has recently gained significant attention. And rightfully so, as it’s being conducted at over 3,000 sites in 58 countries across the globe. But in the U.S., active wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 is only done in some states and to varying degrees. Last Friday, the CDC showcased our system by adding wastewater surveillance to the COVID-19
Tremendous overview ! I'm so proud that the Metropolitan Council here in the Mpls-St Paul metro area, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, started this testing program many weeks ago. Only recently were our data revealed for public viewing. Sewage analysis is a terrific "tool in the pandemic tool bag" and just clever as hell in its simplicity, selectivity, and sensitivity. As some of us have opined locally, "Unless many people are driving across our borders into Wisconsin or Iowa to have all their bowel movements, we have a good handle on CHANGES in the magnitude of viral RNA shedding from a big portion of Minnesota's 5.6 million population. It's the changes over time and not "absolute viral particle concentrations per se" that are the useful data. Thanks for showing our plot as an example -- we may have lousy winter weather and an NFL team that's never won the Super Bowl, but we do have first-rate sewage analysts. And . . . . our plot is obviously and definitely encouraging now.
Thanks again for another informative post! Perhaps for a future topic, do we have any data (from other countries maybe) on omicron-omicron reinfection? Not sure we can hope for info on the new subvariant yet. (speaking from the perspective of an academic teaching a large enrollment class soon and a mom of an under-5 kid who brought us omicron last month....) Since indoor mask mandates will apparently be lifting very soon, it would be helpful to have an idea of when to brace for more childcare closures and disruptions.
It's fascinating to think that the entire profession of epidemiology started with identifying a disease via pumps and drinking water, with John Snow and the Broad Street pump.
They are going to begin testing our wastewater in our small mountain community thanks to funds provided by our state health department. It will be interesting to compare the actual pcr test results with the wastewater lab analysis. Our community is heavily visited by tourists, and visitors are usually here for a few days. It really won't be a true assessment of our full-time community since we have so many tourists in the area. However, I think it will be worthwhile because the wastewater results will help the local health department (and surrounding communities/local hospital 45 minutes away) be prepared for what they may begin to see pop up in the local population and hopefully give them time to prepare for whatever variant might be the variant of the month. Science keeps evolving! One more resource in the toolkit to find a way to best learn and combat all community diseases, not just COVID.
Thanks for a fascinating article! I know you've been over this before, but NYS just dropped their mask mandate. Would you be able to review advice about how people as individuals should decide whether to mask or not given the current circumstances?
I think this is an excellent way for sentinel detection of pathogens at ports of entry. Testing wastewater at ports of entry could give us an early warning to a disease entering the country.
This should be used to settle the waning immunity debate. A 2-3 week early warning should be enough to do a mass vaccination in a specific area.
It can also be used for financial stability. Big agricultural companies use "weather derivatives" - financial instruments based on heating & cooling degree days to hedge against losses from droughts. No reason we can't create some entity that could offer something similar based on wastewater surveillance
So pleased to see you doing a post on this, and interested to learn about the drawbacks - not as obvious as the advantages. So what can one infer about what the epidemic is doing in our community from the wastewater data? A great leading indicator for emerging surges. But what can one make of the data as the surge recedes? In San Diego, the wastewater viral levels seem to be lagging the data on reported cases https://searchcovid.info/dashboards/wastewater-surveillance/ - because the virus continues to be shed through feces for some weeks after becoming infected, I suppose?
Wondering about the uptick in home testing kits and how that will impact our ability to detect COVID variations? Will WBE be one way to help with early detection of dangerous COVID variations?
I would like to learn more about Omicron BA.2. I keep hearing that positive cases are coming down and that mask mandates are being revoked. Yet, it seems we have a potential set back coming our way quickly, especially for those who have not gotten Covid yet. When will we know more?
Great article. I am waiting for your analysis of the report suggesting that all of our "lock-down" mitigation efforts had a less than 1% impact on cases or deaths or something - the one out of Johns Hopkins Economics.
Wastewater: Taking surveillance to the next level
Tremendous overview ! I'm so proud that the Metropolitan Council here in the Mpls-St Paul metro area, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, started this testing program many weeks ago. Only recently were our data revealed for public viewing. Sewage analysis is a terrific "tool in the pandemic tool bag" and just clever as hell in its simplicity, selectivity, and sensitivity. As some of us have opined locally, "Unless many people are driving across our borders into Wisconsin or Iowa to have all their bowel movements, we have a good handle on CHANGES in the magnitude of viral RNA shedding from a big portion of Minnesota's 5.6 million population. It's the changes over time and not "absolute viral particle concentrations per se" that are the useful data. Thanks for showing our plot as an example -- we may have lousy winter weather and an NFL team that's never won the Super Bowl, but we do have first-rate sewage analysts. And . . . . our plot is obviously and definitely encouraging now.
Thanks again for another informative post! Perhaps for a future topic, do we have any data (from other countries maybe) on omicron-omicron reinfection? Not sure we can hope for info on the new subvariant yet. (speaking from the perspective of an academic teaching a large enrollment class soon and a mom of an under-5 kid who brought us omicron last month....) Since indoor mask mandates will apparently be lifting very soon, it would be helpful to have an idea of when to brace for more childcare closures and disruptions.
Perfect! I just emailed our county commission chair about this. Included link to this post. Fingers crossed.
It's fascinating to think that the entire profession of epidemiology started with identifying a disease via pumps and drinking water, with John Snow and the Broad Street pump.
They are going to begin testing our wastewater in our small mountain community thanks to funds provided by our state health department. It will be interesting to compare the actual pcr test results with the wastewater lab analysis. Our community is heavily visited by tourists, and visitors are usually here for a few days. It really won't be a true assessment of our full-time community since we have so many tourists in the area. However, I think it will be worthwhile because the wastewater results will help the local health department (and surrounding communities/local hospital 45 minutes away) be prepared for what they may begin to see pop up in the local population and hopefully give them time to prepare for whatever variant might be the variant of the month. Science keeps evolving! One more resource in the toolkit to find a way to best learn and combat all community diseases, not just COVID.
Thanks for a fascinating article! I know you've been over this before, but NYS just dropped their mask mandate. Would you be able to review advice about how people as individuals should decide whether to mask or not given the current circumstances?
Off topic but sending love and imaginary wine to YLE and the rest of our under-5 club today.
Two questions:
- would testing for multiple respiratory and enteral viruses help to calibrate the accuracy of wastewater testing?
- for ordinary citizens trying to assess risk in their daily lives, wouldn't the Holy Grail be sampling indoor air?
https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/industrial/environmental/in-air-pathogen-surveillance/renvo-sars-cov-2-environmental-test.html
A fourth limitation on the reliability of wastewater testing: it misses the part of the population using septic tanks so not connected to the sewers.
Excellent review. And now that CDC is offering WBE data for select sites, we've another resource.
I think this is an excellent way for sentinel detection of pathogens at ports of entry. Testing wastewater at ports of entry could give us an early warning to a disease entering the country.
This should be used to settle the waning immunity debate. A 2-3 week early warning should be enough to do a mass vaccination in a specific area.
It can also be used for financial stability. Big agricultural companies use "weather derivatives" - financial instruments based on heating & cooling degree days to hedge against losses from droughts. No reason we can't create some entity that could offer something similar based on wastewater surveillance
So pleased to see you doing a post on this, and interested to learn about the drawbacks - not as obvious as the advantages. So what can one infer about what the epidemic is doing in our community from the wastewater data? A great leading indicator for emerging surges. But what can one make of the data as the surge recedes? In San Diego, the wastewater viral levels seem to be lagging the data on reported cases https://searchcovid.info/dashboards/wastewater-surveillance/ - because the virus continues to be shed through feces for some weeks after becoming infected, I suppose?
Wondering about the uptick in home testing kits and how that will impact our ability to detect COVID variations? Will WBE be one way to help with early detection of dangerous COVID variations?
I would like to learn more about Omicron BA.2. I keep hearing that positive cases are coming down and that mask mandates are being revoked. Yet, it seems we have a potential set back coming our way quickly, especially for those who have not gotten Covid yet. When will we know more?
Great article. I am waiting for your analysis of the report suggesting that all of our "lock-down" mitigation efforts had a less than 1% impact on cases or deaths or something - the one out of Johns Hopkins Economics.