KWR in the news G.J. Medema - Coronavirus in sewage foreshadowed outbreak in Dutch city

“Scientists say they found the virus, that causes COVID-19, in a Dutch city’s waste water before the first confirmed case in the city. They hope that sewage surveillance may be an early indicator of COVID-19’s presence.
Researchers in the Netherlands said on Monday that the pathogen that causes COVID-19 was present in the sewage system of a Dutch city weeks before the first cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the same city through testing. The research indicates that sewage surveillance could be a useful tool in detecting whether coronavirus is present in a population before testing patients. “In a city with 100.000 citizens, not everybody is tested,” researchers told DW. “Sewage water is a quicker route to ‘see’ the virus in the population.” Traces of the virus SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are present in the feces of many infected people. This means that testing wastewater for the pathogen can be a good way to determine whether coronavirus is present in a population.”‘

(Citation: Douglas, E. – KWR in the news G.J. Medema – Coronavirus in sewage foreshadowed outbreak in Dutch city – www.dw.com (2020)31 March)