Wastewater used to track Covid-19 faster than individual testing

South Africa can now use wastewater to track the Covid-19 pandemic.

The SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard, a system which warns of Covid-19 outbreaks across the country, was launched on Tuesday.

An initiative by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) found that the tracking of wastewater could be used to develop early warning systems (EWS) for various water systems in high-risk settings various enteric viruses.

RNA of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has been successfully isolated and quantified in wastewater in a growing number of countries since the start of the pandemic.

The SAMRC also brought in help of international advisers and external academic partners, including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in US and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), in a bid to establish the project in multiple provinces across the country.

According to SAMRC president and CEO, Professor Glenda Gray, by monitoring wastewater scientists were able to predict a rise in Covid-19 cases within a week or more before it was usually detectable through human testing.

“We are very excited about the prospect of curbing Covid-19 transmission and saving lives using this technology, especially when undertaken in partnership with public health officials” she said.

The project was in its early stages with monitoring sites rolled out in Cape Town, the Breede River Valley in the Western Cape, the Mopani and Vhembe districts in Limpopo and the OR Tambo and Amathole districts in the Eastern Cape.

A team comprising five of the SAMRC research units completed laboratory and field proof of concept studies and was currently embarking on the full implementation of longer-term surveillance. The system was not limited to tracking  Covid-19, but potentially other diseases, the council said.

Led and funded largely by the SAMRC, the project also received support from the Solidarity Fund, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and SERI.

simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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